The name in the native Tzotzil language is Jovel, meaning "village in the clouds". San Cristóbal de Las Casas sits in a small valley surrounded by mountains in the central Chiapas Highlands. . Established by the Spanish in 1528 it has been described as "a small Spanish island, surrounded by a vast sea of indigenous culture". Cobblestone streets lined with carved stucco and stone facades, Spanish and Moorish architecture, iron balconies adorned with flowers, and a host of beautifully detailed churches, templos, and cathedrals, lend the city a decidedly European charm, but it is the indigenous people who bring this city to life.
The intricately detailed Cathedral of San Cristóbal was founded by the Spanish in 1528 and took more than 200 years to complete, but the earthquakes in 2017 that devastated much of Chiapas caused extensive damage to the landmark. Repair work is ongoing but Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and progress is slow. Still, the cathedral, with its finely detailed exterior, reminiscent of Concha, or Pan Fino, the Mexican confectionaries, is magnificent and dominates the skyline at the north end of the zocalo.
The city is vibrant. There is a constant buzz from the artisan and local municipal markets, music on the plazas, crowded bakeries seemingly on every corner, street vendors, artist's workshops, writers and artists groups, fascinating museums and wonderful restaurants.
There is a remarkable subculture here focused on finding, recording, and preserving the traditional ways of life. There is great interest in book making, paper making, dyeing and textiles. Leñateros Workshop, over many years, painstakingly researched and preserved ancient spells, poetry, and drinking songs, collected stories of Mayan women, legends, and religious beliefs, documented observations on nature and traditional agricultural practices, and then published a book made entirely by hand. The edition consisted of 1000 copies plus an additional 650 deluxe copies printed on special handmade paper. The most remarkable accomplishment of this entire project is that it is the first book written, illustrated, printed, bound and published by the Mayan people in 1,000 years. It sold out within hours.
The Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán with its astonishing baroque facade is one of the most ornate structures in Latin America. It is completely surrounded by an enormous craft market where indigenous people sell textiles, weavings, ceramics, and woodworks. The interior of the church is no less impressive with intricately carved wood panels, magnificent altars, and a pulpit covered in gold leaf.
The enormous, allegorical murals in the courtyard of the Antiguo Colegio de San Francisco Javier are both biblical and historical. Their dreamlike quality and playful innocence are a joy to behold.
Bartolomé de las Casas, a friar and bishop, arrived at the island of Española in 1502 and joined the military campaigns against the Tainos. But he had an epiphany while preparing a sermon in San Cristóbal, renounced his ill-gotten gains, and spent the rest of his life defending the indigenous people. In 1847 San Cristóbal was renamed in his honor.
As in most colonial towns, the city was designed defensively with the center designed around a zocalo or town square and the surrounding streets occupied by the Spanish and used mostly for ceremony and commerce. The indigenous peoples lived in the outlying hills. As the city grew indigenous neighborhoods or barrios developed each centered around a specific craft or skill; leather and tanning, metal work, stone masons, ceramics, etc.
The magnificent homes of the aristocracy that surround the zocalo were the first to be built in this Spanish colonial city. The indigenous stone cutters worked together with the Spanish masons, creating sumptuous and elegant ornamentation reflecting traditional motifs and local detail. But of course the natives had never seen a lion so their interpretation in the sculptures over the carriage doors of one building are very whimsical.
There are eight principle groups of indigenous peoples in Chiapas, each with their own language, beliefs, customs and culture. The Tzotziles and Teztales are the largest groups around San Cristóbal and their clothing is among the most elaborate, colorful and distinctive in all of Mexico, identifying not only their village, but continuing ancient Mayan traditions.
The intricately embroidered designs are often ancient Mayan symbols representing stylized frogs, jaguars, snakes, birds, and saints. Some motifs have religious or magical functions. The scorpion, for example, may be an invocation for rain since the scorpion was believed to attract lightening.
To walk the streets and barrios of San Cristóbal is to walk back through the history of this fascinating colonial city. Barrio El Cerrillo has been a traditional Tzotzil neighborhood since 1549 well know for its magnificent ironwork which can be seen on windows and balconies throughout the city. Barrio Guadalupe is known for its traditional Mexican wooden toy workshops, the Merced neighborhood was known for candle making, while Barrio San Ramón, now famous for its bakeries and confections, in an earlier day was know for pottery and tanning. San Felipe was characterized by providing mules and porters to travelers and merchants.
The city is brimming with art. From the interior walls of its many museums to the exterior walls of its varied barrios, the city celebrates art, creativity, and diversity, from stenciled political statements to whimsical abstractions.
Mexico's history of mural painting of course reaches back millennia to Mayan and perhaps Olmec temples and palaces, but a revival began in the 1920's with social and political messages intended to unify the country under grand themes like "Industry" and "Progress" following the Mexican Revolution for Independence. Today's muralists follow in the footsteps of David Alfaro Siquerious, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco with messages sometimes political, sometimes social, and sometimes simply whimsical.
Casa Na Balom (House of the Jaguar in the native Tzotzil language), once the home of explorer and anthropologist Franz Blom and his wife, photographer Gertrude (Trudy) Duby, is now a fascinating museum, highlighting their nearly 50 years exploring, documenting, photographing, and protecting the culture, heritage and indigenous Mayan people especially in the area around the Lacandon Jungle.