Final Views of San Cristobal De Las Casas

After our return to San Cristobal De Las Casas, we spent a couple of days there before climbing on an overnight bus to Oaxaca. As I said earlier, San Cristobal is a very unique, cosmopolitan city in the mountains of Chiapas. Why it exists where it does was puzzling to us. I think that we figured out a big part of the answer when we visited Na Bolom (on our friend Kathryn's suggestion), a museum/library/hotel/intellectual center/non-profit that was founded in 1951 by a couple - Danish Archaeologist and explorer Frans Blom and the Swiss conservationist and photographer Gertrude Duby. The center served as a base for their work to explore eastern Chiapas and discover and protect ancient Mayan historical resources (like Palenque and Yaxchilan), to advocate for the indigenous people in the area, like the Lacandon, and to protect the areas' environment, rivers, forests, etc.

Franz and Gertrude were hard-driving visionaries with big personalities this center has served as an intellectual magnet for over 60 years - attracting academics, artists, the rich and famous, and even world leaders. This center seems to have played a big role in putting San Cristobal on the map for people outside of Chiapas. Combine this with the mountain setting, the cultural history of the area, the region's environment, peoples, languages, etc, and San Cristobal is indeed a very unique place.

Here a few final photographs of our days in the city... 

These women selling textiles in the market, probably come from a village from outside San Cristobal. They are wearing a traditional outfit - a thick black wool shirt held up by a colorful woven belt, and a colorful hand-woven blouse that is representative of their particular village. Their first language is probably Tzotzil - an original Mayan language, and then Spanish.

Another woman selling in the market,wearing a scarf on her head to keep the sun off.

This young woman is wearing different clothes that represent a different village.

The market in the center of town is one of constant motion, very colorful, and has really beautiful clothes and materials, fruits, tacos, etc.

These are these amazing weavings and shawls and throws that I think come from the jungle areas to the east.

There are lots of different skills on display in San Cristobal, in an effort to make a living. For a dollar, this man would carve a blank key with your name and some really amazing little picture of your choice. Liesl and Jeremiah both ordered keys...

This is the entrance to La Iglesia de Santo Domingo, the church that was constructed by the early bishop/good friend of the indigenous people, Bartholomew De Las Casas. It was begun in the 16th century and features almost baroque stucco/sculpture that includes lots of flowers, vines, and even a few jaguars...

Detail from Santo Domingo, including the jaguars..

Columns from Santo Domingo.

People gathering in the city center, the zocalo. There are lots of people selling food, clothes, etc.