La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz: 503 years of the first European settlement in Mexico

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“Villa like those of Spain, Rich (rica) because of the manifestations of wealth, Truth (Vera) and Cruz for arriving on Good Friday, a tribute to the cross where Jesus Christ died”

La Antigua, Veracruz.- Hernán Cortés and his crew conquered and founded Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (Veracruz) on April 22, 1519.

The Government of Mexico remembers the first European settlement in our territory after an expedition under the command of Hernán Cortés on an islet in front of San Juan de Ulúa, a territory currently located in the state of Veracruz.

He named that place the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, “Villa like those of Spain, Rich because of the manifestations of wealth that Moctezuma made to the newcomers in the port; True Vera and Cruz because the day of his arrival was celebrated on Good Friday and tribute was paid to the cross where Jesus Christ died “they limit.

501 años de la fundación la Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz

According to historical data from the General Archive of the Nation, a dependency that keeps alive the documentary memory of Mexico, Cortés decided to establish a settlement that would become the first city hall of Mexico at that time, by orders of the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez was prohibited from establish a permanent establishment.

The Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz was born from a conflict

The group that served Diego Velázquez did not want to break any kind of ties with Cuba and in order to get out of exile, they denounced Cortés’s conquest plans.

Hernán Cortés ordered the shipment a day after knowing the position of the opposition group and announced that they would all return to Cuba.

The fact is that at night in the military camp they elected mayors such as Alonso Hernández de Portocarrero and Francisco de Montejo, aldermen, bailiffs, an attorney, a treasurer and an accountant, all of them supporters of Cortés.

After the protest was concluded, the first town hall in America was established, for Hernán Cortés this represented a way to distance himself from the president of Cuba.

Veracruz Daily Post