🇲🇽  San Cristóbal de las Casas is a city and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of Chiapas.

The historic center, has maintained its Spanish colonial layout, with narrow cobblestone streets, roofs covered in red clay tile and wrought iron balconies with flowers. The facades of the buildings vary from Baroque to Neoclassical and Moorish, painted in various colors.

Diego de Mazariegos founded San Cristóbal in 1528 as the Spanish regional base.

Its Spanish citizens made fortunes from wheat, while the indigenous people lost their lands and suffered diseases, taxes and forced labor.

San Cristóbal is considered to be the “cultural capital” of the state and a designated in 2003 a “Pueblo Mágico” (Magical Village) in 2003, Mexcian President Felipe Calderón recognized it as “The most magical of the Pueblos Mágicos” and is located in a small valley surrounded by hills in the mountains with a 2,200-meter elevation 7,218 feet gives the city a crisp and cool climate.

Much of it’s large indigenous population made up of Tzotzils and Tzeltals continue to provide and continue to foster traditional culture.

The making of textiles, especially weaving, with amber another important product. Ceramics, wrought iron and filigree jewelry can be found as well. The area is for crafts is the tianguis at Santo Domingo. The city hosts an annual Amber Expo at the Centro de Convenciones Casa de Mazariegos.

A more traditional Mexican market is located just north of the Santo Tomas Church. It is open each day except Sunday, when its vendors go to the surrounding communities in the municipality to sell at their markets which serve traditional dishes such as saffron tamales, sopa de pan, asado coleto, atole de granillo, a drink called posh made from sugar cane and the delightful Chiapanecan Coffee.

The city’s attraction for tourists has also led to a number making San Cristobal their permanent home. Foreign influence is the city’s noted cured meat tradition, which can be traced back to both the Spanish and the Germans These are featured in a number of dishes including chalupas. The pedestrian-friendly cobble-stoned streets and pastel dwellings are hugging the hillsides and add to San Cristobal’s charm.

It’s a convenient hub for travelers to base themselves for further explorations and things to do all throughout the state of Chiapas.It’s nightlife music scene offers reggae, salsa, techno and more.

In the early 90’s a guerrilla group, known as the Zapatista National Liberation Army named after Emiliano Zapata, a popular hero of the 1910-1917 Mexican Revolution who defended poor peasants’ rights to free land seized from wealthy landowners, has caused skirmishes with the Federal Mexican Government in the area and back in 1994 even occupied the main plaza – all of which adds to the bohemian flair, sporting mannequins in balaclavas, playing revolutionary music and selling T-shirts. Images of Che Guevara mix with those of Subcomandante Marcos, the poetic, pipe-smoking political philosopher who declared that the “fourth world war against neoliberalism and oblivion”. …

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