San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristobal de las Casas on the map of Mexico
San Cristobal de las Casas is a city in the central highlands of Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. The city - it is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality of San Cristóbal de las Casas - is located in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas at 2100 m elevation. She was honored as a Pueblo Mágico.
Founded in 1528 as Villa Real de Chiapa, as well as other name changes, the city was called San Cristóbal since 1829; the complement de las Casas was added in 1848 to commemorate Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish Dominican friar, who entered as Bishop of Chiapas during the colonial period for the rights of the indigenous population. The city is world famous for its colonial architecture and one of the most important tourist destinations in Chiapas.
The mountains around San Cristóbal is mainly inhabited by the Mayas. Worth seeing are the inhabited by the tribe of the Tzotzil Mayan villages in the north and northwest of San Cristobal as Chamula and Zinacantán where are preserved and maintained in part still indigenous traditions and ways of life. The inhabitants of these villages speak often, if at all, only Spanish as their first foreign language.
1994 became San Cristóbal de las Casas briefly in the focus of world attention, as there, the Zapatistas began their uprising, organized in the EZLN, which campaigns for the rights of indigenous people and the consequences of globalization facing critical. San Cristóbal was three days occupied by the Zapatistas, until they were displaced by the Mexican army. The Zapatistas withdrew it back into the surrounding mountains and in the forests on the border with Guatemala.
Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas
- Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas
CIDECI
In San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the CIDECI (Centro Indígena de Capacitación Integral - Indigenous Centre for the integral formation ) has its headquarters, a non-profit organization that primarily the training of indigenous young people from the surrounding communities dedicated to.