Showing 1-14 of 14 results
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Café Museo Café
This combined cafe and coffee museum is a venture of Coopcafé, a grouping of 17,000 small-scale, mainly indigenous, Chiapas coffee growers. The museum covers the history of coffee and its cultivation in Chiapas, from highly exploitative beginnings to the community-based indigenous coffee production that's increasingly well marketed today. The information is translated into English and you can taste yummy organic coffee in the cafe.
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Cathedral
On the north side of the plaza, the cathedral was begun in 1528 but wasn't finally completed till 1815 because of several natural disasters. Sure enough, new earthquakes struck in 1816 and 1847, causing considerable damage, but it was restored again in 1920-22. The gold-leaf interior has five gilded altarpieces featuring 18th-century paintings by Miguel Cabrera.
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Centro Cultural de los Altos
The ex-monastery attached to Santo Domingo contains two interesting exhibits: one is the weavers' showroom of Sna Jolobil; the other is the Centro Cultural de los Altos , with a reasonable Spanish-language museum on the history of the San Cristóbal region.
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Centro Cultural El Carmen
The Arco de El Carmen, at the southern end of the Andador Turístico on Avenida Hidalgo, dates from the late 17th century and was once the city's gateway. The ex-convent just east is a wonderful colonial building, with a large peaceful garden. It's now the Centro Cultural El Carmen, hosting art and photography exhibitions and the occasional musical event.
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Cerro de Guadalupe
Want to take in the best views in town? Well, you'll have to work for them, because at this altitude the stairs up this hill can be punishing. A church crowns the lookout: the Iglesia de Guadalupe becomes a hotspot for religious devotees around the Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe (December 12).
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Cerro de San Cristóbal
Want to take in the best views in town? Well, you'll have to work for them, because at this altitude the stairs up this hill can be punishing. A church crowns the lookout.
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Grutas de San Cristóbal
The entrance to this long cavern is among pine woods. The first half kilometer of the cave has a concrete walkway and is lit. The Mexican army took control of the land around the caves in 2003, though visitors are still welcome.
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Hotel Santa Clara
The Hotel Santa Clara was built by Diego de Mazariegos, the Spanish conqueror of Chiapas. His coat of arms is engraved above the main portal. The house is a rare secular example of plateresque style in Mexico.
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Mercado Municipal
For a strong taste of the region's indigenous character, visit the busy municipal market. Wandering through the market is quite an assault on the senses - you'll find dozens of varieties of chilies, pyramids of tomatoes and mangoes, as well as bloody butchers' stalls and fly-plagued dried-shrimp stands. Stay alert: tourists have had pockets picked and bags snatched in the narrow alleys.
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Museo de la Medicina Maya
The award-winning Museo de la Medicina Maya introduces the system of traditional medicine used by many indigenous people in the Chiapas highlands. It's a 15-minute walk north from Calle Real de Guadalupe or around $18 by taxi.
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Museo del Ámbar de Chiapas
Chiapas amber - fossilized pine resin, around 30 million years old - is known for its clarity and diverse colors. Most is mined around Simojovel, north of San Cristóbal. The Museo del Ámbar de Chiapas explains all things amber (with information sheets in English and other languages) and displays and sells some exquisitely carved items and insect-embedded pieces.
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Na Bolom
Na Bolom means 'Jaguar House' in the Tzotzil language (as well as being a play on its former owners' name). It's full of photographs, archaeological and anthropological relics and books. The house tour provides a revealing insight into the lives of the former owners and the Chiapas of half a century and more ago.
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Plaza 31 de Marzo
The main plaza is a fine, green place to take in San Cristóbal's unhurried highland ambience. Shoe shiners, newspaper sellers and ambulantes (itinerant vendors) gather around the elaborate iron bandstand. It's flanked by the beautiful cathedral on the north side and the equally splendid Hotel Santa Clara on the southeastern side.
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Templo de Santo Domingo
The 16th-century Templo de Santo Domingo is San Cristóbal's most beautiful church, especially when its pink facade catches the late-afternoon sun. The Baroque frontage, with its outstanding filigree stucco work, was added in the 17th century and includes a double-headed Hapsburg eagle, the symbol of the Spanish monarchy at the time. The interior is lavishly gilded, especially the ornate pulpit.
Showing 1-14 of 14 results
