There used to be a prehispanic city called “Huitzilapa” in this place. The city of Veracruz was located here during the XVI century, before finally being settled in its current location; therefore, this place was know for a log time as "Vera Cruz Vieja" (Old Veracruz) and later as “La Antigua” (The ancient).
   In 1519 conqueror Hernan Cortes took from a temple in Huitzilapan, two indigenous books he sent to Spain and that have been preserved under the names of Codex Vindobonesis and Codex Nuttall.
  There they built a small settlement that in 1574, a geographer of the Indies, Juan López de Velasco, would describe as a 200 Spaniards town with more than 600 African slaves for the unloading work. Through La Antigua, which received the merchandise of the ships that docked in San Juan de Ulúa, the whole trade between the New Spain and the Iberian Peninsula was carried out for over 75 years.
   Nevertheless, by the end of the XVI century, the settlement lost importance when  Veracruz was moved to where Cortes originally founded the first city council in front of San Juan de Ulúa islet. From that moment, the almost abandoned place was called La Antigua to differentiate it from Veracruz.
  In 1924 La Antigua was appointed head of the municipality, the site is currently a peaceful play located by the side of La Antigua river. Covered by the thick foliage of the trees growing all over the population, it is a fresh oasis in the middle of the tropical heat. Maybe one of the most interesting ancient buildings that survived is the so called "House of Cortés", a colonial construction aimed to host government-administrative functions. A beautiful silk-cotton tree that grows over the walls, embracing them and giving it the characteristic traits of an old house in ruins. Another building, a well conserved one, is the Rosario chapel, which reflects the first breaths of evangelization of the mendicants orders of the XVI century.

This place is located in the Cardel and Nautla coast highway, close to where Cortes established the first Villa Rica de la Veracruz, basically made up by a fortress, a church and other minor constructions in front of the majestic and amazing Cerro de los Metates, where a city that Bernal Díaz del castillo called Quahuiztlán.
  The name of the place is of Náhuatl origins, it is made up of the roots "Quiahui", rain and "tlan", that is Quiahuiztlán or Quiahuixtlan which means "Place of rain". The site is over the Cerro de los Metates (also referred Cerro Bernal), called like that because many metates were found buried on the site. The ecosystem of the zone is a tropical savanna, with plants such like cactus, bushes and some plants with medicinal properties such as cinchona bark (malaria), Guazuma ulmifolia (diarrhea), puan (measles), arnica, Terminalia Amazonia, Parkinsonia aculeata, Black Mulberry, Parmentiera edulis, and Tigridia pavonia. The Cerro de los Metates is located in the so called Strip of Totonacapan, which borders to the north will Nautla river and to the South win Actopan river.
  This zone had three functions. It was a city of 16 thousand inhabitants. In such region 78 tombs were found in three main cemeteries, as well as a fortress, The first Spaniards were admired to find defensive walls in the foothills of the mountain and therefore mentioned it in their accounts.

Villa Rica, 3 kilometers away from e Emilio Carranza, is a historical site worth seeing.  In those waters, Hernán Cortés sank the vessels and built the first settlement of the conquest with his own hands.
  This is a piece of land that penetrates the sea and with a small cove of peaceful waters, with almost no waves, with a green transparent color  in the lowest parts. You can practice without any risk all kinds of aquatic activities in front o the fishermen's village, from swimming to scuba diving, and from canoeing to aquatic skiing.
  If submarine activities are your passion, this is the ideal place. You can explore the bottom in sites like La Piedra, El Turrón, El Morrón, Los Muñecos, La Mancha and Punta Delgada, among many other stacks and reefs.  Other attractions for tourists are the sand hills that are created by the beach and that resemble a small desert by the sea. There are a couple of small shacks that sometimes sell food to the visitors on a non-regular basis.
   Currently the zone is being restored and studied by the  INAH. After visiting this historical site with a beauty that amazed the Spaniard four centuries ago, the tour continues to Veracruz. The highway moves away from the sea until reaching Cardel. There you will find a crossroad leading to Ursulo Galván, 9 km away from Chachalacas beach. Right besides you will find Punta Zempoala. More than describing we invite you to visit this landscapes from Veracruz.

Three autoctonous cultures populated the current state of Veracruz: Huastecos, Totonacas and Olmecas. This peoples were, in the opinion of many researchers, ethnically and culturally related.
  The first Spanish incursion into the territory of Veracruz were commanded by Juan de Grijalva, who along with Alonso Dávila, Pedro de Alvarado and Francisco de Montejo, crewed four vessels coming from Cuba. In 1518 after docking in Isla Mujeres, Bahía de la Ascensión, Cabo Catoche, Isla del Carmen and other points of the Yucatan peninsula, they reach the estuary of the river that Grijalva would baptize with his own name, reaching the sandbank of Tonalá.
  A new expedition under the command of Hernán Cortés arrived in the coast of Veracruz on April 22, 1519 in the sand banks of Chalchihuecan, in front the islet of San Juan de Ulúa, where Cortés erected the first City Council of  America, calling it Villa Rica de la Veracruz. It was called like that due to the Spaniards having disembarked on a wholly Friday, the day of the Bare Cross. Later, while looking for a better site to establish themselves, they moved to  Quihuiztlán, where the first hispanic town was founded under the name Villa Rica. It was located there until 1525 until it was moved to the left riverside of the Huitzilapan (La Antigua) river, to change it 1599 definitely to the original site of the disembark, where the Venta de Huitrón was located and know lies the city and port of Veracruz.
  The port of Veracruz became the link between Spain and its colonies in America. This port was the point to send to Europe: precious metals, turkeys, mace, avocado, beans, ixtle and cotton among others. Products such as broad bean, peas, wheat, rice, domestic animals, powder, fabrics, wines and many kinds of merchandise were later distributed to the new Spanish territory.
  The port city was also the seat of the constitutional government of Venustiano Carranza and declared capital of the Republic on December 3, 1914. This is where the law of January 6, 1915 was passed along with important agrarian reforms.
  Veracruz has 212 municipalities 71,823 Km2 and 6, 908, 975 inhabitants. Its capital is Xalapa; Veracruz generates 4.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

By the seaside and in the estuary of the Jamapa river, you will find the white houses and the green foliage of the town of Boca del Río. This small fishermen's town, famous for its beautiful beaches, sones jarochos (Veracruz folk singing), and above all for its port cuisine based upon seafood, is the current seat of the modern and most important hotels and malls in the state. You will find palm shelters and beach chairs along its beach. Don't forget to taste the fish filet stuffed with seafood when you are around.
  The sorroundings area to the city of Veracruz, along with Boca del Río, are a new and dynamic face contrasting with the traditional Veracruz. This zone has a world-class infrastructure with hotels, restaurants, clubs, and modern malls, even a Conventions Center.