A city that escaped from the past to show us pitted streets that "transit" among magnificent churches of vice royal countenance, and robust, big old houses made of adobe, stucco and red tiles. Hispanic features in a land of millenarian traditions, western tracks that make evident the crossbreeding of San Cristobal de las Casas, one of the most captivating corners in Mexico. Born with the name of Ciudad Real, it was founded by the Spanish conquistador Diego Mazariegos in 1528. Its denomination continued to change along four centuries, until finally San Cristobal de las Casas was adopted in remembrance of Fray Bartolome de las Casas, a notable defender of the indigenous people during the colonial period. Nowadays, the modest city - capital of Chiapas until 1892 - keeps temples with silverworks of the XVI century (plateresco) and neoclassical lines; authentic emblems of Mexican architecture such as the San Cristobal Cathedral, a stronghold of the faith prodigal in details and ornamentations that was built in the XVII century. Another beautiful example is Santo Domingo, with its very singular pink façade and its exquisite statuary and indigenous elements.

And the architectural richness goes way beyond the temples. The inspired layout is projected upon the narrow streets of its city centre and the big old houses with ample gardens, imposing large windows of wrought iron and corner balconies. A couple of notable examples are the so-called House of the Siren, dating back to the XVI century, and the Naa-Boom or House of the Jaguar, a mixture of museum, library and hotel.
The city is moved by its colonial mark and its nostalgic air evoking the past… but the experience is not reduced to an splendid architectural journey, it is more profound and is marked by a strong cultural experience that allows travellers to relate with the men and women of this ethnical melting pot occupying Chiapas, one of the Mexican states with the most native people in the country.