Experience the best of San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas is a colonial town in the highlands of Chiapas, with cobbled streets, baroque churches and Maya markets.
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San Cristóbal de las Casas sits in a pine-ringed valley about 2,200 metres up in the highlands of Chiapas, a town of red-tiled roofs, painted walls and cobbled lanes laid out by the Spanish in 1528. Its yellow cathedral and the baroque church of Santo Domingo, whose carved facade glows in late light, face squares where Maya women from nearby villages sell textiles.
The surrounding villages are home to Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities, and the village church of San Juan Chamula, where the floor is strewn with pine needles, shows a blend of Maya and Catholic ritual. The Sumidero Canyon, a deep gorge of the Grijalva river, is about an hour away, and the waterfalls of Agua Azul, the lakes of Montebello and the Maya city of Palenque lie further afield. Na Bolom, the former home of two researchers, is now a museum of the Lacandon Maya.
Chiapas is Mexico's leading coffee state, and cafés here serve it beside local chocolate, tamales wrapped in banana leaf, and cochito, roast pork in a rich sauce. Posh, a sugar-cane spirit of the highlands, and pozol, a cold maize drink, are traditional. Days are mild and nights cool at this height, and the rains from May to October bring afternoon showers.
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