Colonial highlands, Zapatista murals, Tzotzil Maya markets, and the most politically alive city in Mexico
San Cristóbal de las Casas sits at 2,200m in the Chiapas highlands of southern Mexico — a colonial city of cobblestone streets and painted colonial facades surrounded by Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities that make it one of the most culturally layered places in Mexico. The Zapatista uprising of 1 January 1994 (timed to the day NAFTA took effect) transformed San Cristóbal into an international symbol of indigenous resistance — EZLN murals, zapatista coffee cooperatives, and autonomous community markets are visible throughout the city and the surrounding villages. The Sunday market at San Ju…
San Cristóbal de las Casas was founded in 1528 as the Spanish colonial capital of Chiapas — named after Bartolomé de las Casas, the Dominican friar who became the most vocal early defender of indigenous rights against Spanish colonial abuse. The surrounding highlands were densely settled by Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya peoples who had resisted Aztec domination and proved equally difficult to subjugate — Chiapas was not fully under Spanish control until the 1530s. The city was the capital of Chiapas state until 1892, when the capital was moved to Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The 1994 Zapatista uprising — the…