San Cristóbal de las Casas
History.
The Jovel Valley offered the ideal setting, the temperate climate and the strategic location, for Diego de Mazariegos to found the Ciudad Real de Chiapa in 1528. In the present-day historic center of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, tiled roofs, flowering courtyards, corner balconies, baroque facades, neoclassical and Mudejar-style buildings, colorful handicrafts, exquisite cuisine, ceremonies, processions, popular festivals and ancient legends all converge.
Its construction followed a process similar to that of other colonial cities created in the New Spain territory. First, the main square was laid out, and around it the locations that the main buildings would occupy were designated. Around its square are the cathedral with its Central American-style baroque facade, the neoclassical city hall, the arcades, the church of San Nicolás, with the style that most identifies the colonial religious architecture of Chiapas, and the House of the Mermaid with its Plateresque-inspired 16th-century facade. Especially interesting is the ensemble formed by the Dominican convent and the temple of La Caridad, joined to the Cathedral and the Plaza 31 de Marzo by the northern Ecclesiastical walkway, the city's main monumental axis.
The Jovel Valley offered the ideal setting, the temperate climate and the strategic location, for Diego de Mazariegos to found the Ciudad Real de Chiapa in 1528. In the present-day historic center of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, tiled roofs, flowering courtyards, corner balconies, baroque facades, neoclassical and Mudejar-style buildings, colorful handicrafts, exquisite cuisine, ceremonies, processions, popular festivals and ancient legends all converge.
Its construction followed a process similar to that of other colonial cities created in the New Spain territory. First, the main square was laid out, and around it the locations that the main buildings would occupy were designated. Around its square are the cathedral with its Central American-style baroque facade, the neoclassical city hall, the arcades, the church of San Nicolás, with the style that most identifies the colonial religious architecture of Chiapas, and the House of the Mermaid with its Plateresque-inspired 16th-century facade. Especially interesting is the ensemble formed by the Dominican convent and the temple of La Caridad, joined to the Cathedral and the Plaza 31 de Marzo by the northern Ecclesiastical walkway, the city's main monumental axis.
