Veracruz: where Cortés landed in Mexico

First city founded by Spanish conquistadors in Mexico, Veracruz remains the port from which Hernán Cortés began the conquest of the Aztec empire.

The center, where Hernán Cortés landed in 1519, is comfortably explored by taxi or local bus.

The San Juan de Ulúa Fortress, built to defend the port from pirates, remains one of the most imposing Spanish colonial fortifications in the Americas.

Steps away, Veracruz's Zócalo, animated each evening by danzón orchestras, reflects the city's vibrant Afro-Caribbean musical tradition.

Walking along the waterfront, you visit the Veracruz Aquarium, among Latin America's largest, with sharks and species from the Gulf of Mexico.

Toward evening, restaurants in the center serve the celebrated huachinango a la veracruzana, a fish dish that gave its name to an entire Mexican culinary style.

Hernán Cortés landed at Veracruz in 1519, establishing the first Spanish colonial city on Mexican soil before marching toward the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

Veracruz, shaped by the legacy of enslaved Africans brought during the colonial era, maintains Afro-Caribbean musical traditions unique in Mexico, including the celebrated son jarocho that inspired the worldwide-known classic 'La Bamba'.