Chiapa de Corzo

Most travelers meet Chiapa de Corzo as a dock - the embarcaderos here launch the boats into Sumidero Canyon - but the town predates the errand grandly. Founded in 1528 as the first Spanish city in Chiapas, its plaza holds the region's architectural signature: La Pila, a sixteenth-century fountain-pavilion in brick Mudejar style shaped like the Spanish crown, eight arched faces under a lantern tower, unique in the Americas and reason enough to linger before boarding. Around it spread arcades, the massive Santo Domingo church with its museum of lacquerware - the town's jicara-gourd craft tradition - and marimba-scored evenings of tascalate and pepita snacks. In January the town becomes the state's great stage: the Fiesta Grande brings out the Parachicos - dancers in carved wooden masks of pink-cheeked Spaniards, ixtle-fiber "hair" and embroidered serapes, rattling chinchines through the streets in processions UNESCO lists as intangible heritage - along with canoe-borne naval battle reenactments and food in fair quantities. The canyon gets the postcards; the town keeps the culture.

History

People have lived here since at least 1400 BCE, and the ancient town reached its height between 700 BCE and 200 CE; the earliest Long Count inscription in Mesoamerica, dated 36 BCE, was found here on Stela 2. The Spanish founded their first city in Chiapas here in 1528, and "de Corzo" was later added in honour of Ángel Albino Corzo (Wikipedia, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas).

What's there

• La Pila - the crown-shaped Mudejar fountain on the plaza.
• The Parachicos - masked processions each January.
• The embarcadero - boats leaving for Sumidero's walls.
• The lacquer craft - painted gourds in shop and museum.

When to go

January 8-23 for the Fiesta Grande's full spectacle; otherwise dry-season mornings before or after the canyon boat, when the plaza belongs to marimba and shade.

Before you go

Most visitors give the town twenty minutes it deserves in hours - budget the plaza properly. Fiesta weeks pack lodging solid; day-trip from Tuxtla or San Cristobal then. The riverfront hustles boat tickets energetically.

Nearby

Sumidero Canyon's walls rise from the town's own river; Tuxtla's zoo and San Cristobal's highlands bracket the highway.

Key facts