Bacalar, the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality, was a city of the Maya civilization in Pre-Columbian times and was the first city in the region which the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in taking and holding in 1543.
Bacalar (Spanish: [bakala (listen)) is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othon P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Chetumal, at 18 40' 37" N, 88 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11,084 people. Bacalar was a city of the Maya civilization in Pre-Columbian times. This was the first city in the region which the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in taking and holding in 1543. 
