Bacalar is a town in southeastern Mexico near the Belize border. It’s on Lake Bacalar, also called the Lagoon of Seven Colors due to its blue and turquoise hues. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11,084 people and was named a “Pueblo Mágico” in 2006.
Wikipedia
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 (during the 1543–1544 Pachecos invasion). In 1545 Gaspar Pacheco established the Spanish town here with the name Salamanca de Bacalar with the help of Juan de la Cámara.
Wikipedia
After the town was sacked by pirates in the 17th century, the Fortress de San Felipe Bacalar was completed in 1729. The name most likely derives from Mayan languages: bʼak halal, meaning “surrounded by reeds”, the name of the locality attested at the time of the 16th century arrival of the Spanish.