San Cristóbal de las Casas is for many people the nicest colonial city of Mexico: the air you breath there is clean, its streets are tidy, and life elapses in a pacific and quiet way.
Located 2,300 meters high, it was founded in 1528, and named honoring Friar Bartolomé de las Casas, by his defense of the natives against the colonists’ abuses.
The tourism of the city is mostly European, which comes here lured by the simplicity of the city and the rooted native traditions that can be seen there. San Cristóbal is not a city for massive tourism; its hotels are simple, but very typical, and it has numberless cafés and bars where you can have a good time.
The neuralgic point of the city is 21 de Mayo Square. There, Indians from the sierra gather to sell their art: embroidering, colorful clothes and multiple crafts, along with hippies attracted by the city environment, who sell jewels, specially those made with amber. Next to the square is the cathedral, whose inside has a baroque style with gold plates.
To the north from downtown, we find the Temple of Santo Domingo, the most beautiful of San Cristóbal, with its pink façade and part of its interior decoration made of gold.
It is worth visiting the municipal market, full of spices and typical products of the zone.
In San Cristóbal there are some cooperatives representing the different Indian groups of the area. In them, they expose crafts and typical objects of a great beauty. Remarkable are those of Sna Jolobil and J’pas Jolovitelik.