Bacalar's pre-hispanic heritage

Maya village as it might have appeared when the Spanish arrived in 1543. The individual homes stood on raised platforms, with walls made of upright sticks and roofs of thatched palm fronds. Household work was largely an outside activity, performed on the small terraces surrounding the houses or in other public areas. This included some of the tasks seen above, such as grinding corn or using a back-strap loom to weave cotton or other fibers. 

The original name of Bacalar was B'ak Halal, meaning "Surrounded by Reeds". It was founded in 435 AD by the Itzaes, one of several Maya groups within the Putun culture. The Putun tribes migrated from the Gulf Coast of the modern state of Tabasco into the Yucatan Peninsula and northern Guatemala. They brought the cultural influences of Central Mexican civilizations like Teotihuacán and passed these influences on to the people they encountered along the way. Around 900 AD, when the Classic-Era Maya civilization collapsed, some of the Itzaes moved further north and founded a great city called Chichén Itzá ("Well of the Itzaes"). The Putunes were seafarers who established trading posts all along the Gulf and Caribbean coasts of the Peninsula. B'ak Halal prospered as a center of trade within this network until the Spanish arrival.

The "daily grind" of pre-hispanic Maya life. A woman grinds maiz (corn) on a flat, stone tray called a metate, using a stone roller called a mano. She kneels on a woven reed mat called a petate. Surrounding her metate are various clay pots and woven baskets used for storing and preparing food. 

Behind the woman, a hammock can be seen through the doorway of her house. The first known hammocks were made by the people of Central and South America more than 1000 years ago. However, they didn't arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula until about 1300 AD. The earliest of these sleeping nets were woven from the bark of the Hammack tree, hence the name. When slung between poles or trees, hammocks were ideal for hot weather and enabled the sleeper to avoid dangerous snakes and insects on the ground. Hammocks were first encountered by Europeans when Columbus visited the Caribbean islands in 1492. In 1590, European navies began to use them as sailors' beds because they could easily be stored when not in use, clearing the sleeping area for other purposes.

Village economy

Canoe typical of those used in Lago de Bacalar for trading. Notice the turtle shells arranged in the stern of the trader's boat. These were used as drums or were sometimes carved into jewelry. Other items of trade included jade, shells, feathers, gold, cotton, wax, honey, and salt. Such goods were favored over agricultural products because small, relatively light luxury products were easier to transport and yielded higher profits. 

B'ak Halal's lakeshore site was ideal for trade. Moving goods north or south by canoe was much easier and cheaper than hauling them through the jungle on the backs of porters. Since the southern tip of the lake was only a few kilometers from the Rio Hondo, goods could easily be portaged and then paddled up the river into the interior or downstream into Bahia de Chetumal and the Caribbean. To guide themselves, the traders used maps painted on cotton cloth. The most important medium of exchange was the cacao bean, although other items were sometimes used. In addition to its importance as a trading center, B'ak Halal also produced many of the canoes used by traders and fishermen. 

Everyday life required a variety of tools. On the top row are (from the left) three axes, two manos and a metate. Among those on the bottom are a variety of cutting tools of various sizes. Also present are two round stones. One of these may be for pounding and the other (on the far right with a hole through its center) may be for straightening the shafts of arrows. All the tools show excellent craftsmanship and the stones for several seem to have been chosen for their intrinsic beauty. 

Maya woman using a back-strap loom. Weaving materials included cotton and other local fibers. Wool, however, did not arrive until the Spanish brought European sheep. The weavers produced their cloth for trade as well as for local use. The backstrap loom is a very ancient technology and the Maya were not the only ones who developed it. I recently saw a statue from an ancient Egyptian tomb showing a woman using an almost identical rig. However, there is no evidence of cultural interaction between the New and Old Worlds after the hunter-gatherers passed across the Bering Strait to populate the Americas. Many millennia after those early migrations, looms like this came into use. Like metates and various other ancient technologies, back-strap looms are still used in Mexico. Just last week, in the Mexican village where I live, I photographed an indigenous woman using a back-strap loom to create beautiful textiles for the tourist trade.

Maya homes

A Maya nah. I have seen relief sculptures on temples at the ancient Maya city of Uxmal that look just like this. Similar to back-strap looms, the ancient nah design has persisted into modern times. A visitor to any pueblo in the Yucatan Peninsula will almost certainly encounter currently occupied homes of the same type. The typical nah is built by the owner him/herself from locally obtained materials. While it looks rustic, even primitive, the structure is a model of rationality, economy, and functional design. If the walls are constructed from upright sticks, the style is called chuychée. If the sticks are woven horizontally, it is called kolkolchée. The thatched roof is made from palm fronds and both the sticks and the fronds are readily available in the local forest. The space between the sticks in the walls allows for a free flow of air in the warm, humid climate. The high ceiling allows warm air to rise and escape through the thatched roof.

Detail of a thatched roof. The thatch, called guanoo or xaann, allows warm air and smoke from hearth fires to escape. Rain runs off rapidly, due to the waterproofing properties of the smoke from the wood cooking fires. If properly constructed and maintained, a roof like this will last for up to 30 years. One problem is insect infestations. A group of archeologists who stayed in a traditional village were consternated by the periodic appearance of army ant swarms and sought some way to deter them. However, they soon noticed that the local people welcomed the ants. Swarming over everything as it passed, the ant invasion caused the insects in the houses to flee to avoid being consumed. Once the army ants had marched on, the villagers could move back into their now insect-free homes. And, unlike exterminators in the First World, the ants charged nothing for their services.

Two doors face each other, on the front and back of the house. There are no windows. The typical nah is oval-shaped and measures 8m (26 ft) long and 4m (13 ft) wide. In ancient times, the house was built on a raised, limestone platform so as to avoid flooding during the rainy season. The platform was surfaced with a layer of lime plaster, creating a relatively smooth floor. 

Ceiling of the nah, at one end of the oval. A nah ceiling typically rises 5m (16 ft) from the floor to its peak. This height allows the warm air to rise so that the thatch can pass it through, helping to keep the lower part of the nah cooler during the hot season. The oval shape of the nah is ideal for resisting the hurricane winds that lash the coasts of Yucatan every year.

The structure is secured by four main posts, two on each side of the nah. Notice how the fork of a tree has been used to make the joint when the vertical post meets a horizontal cross-support and a rafter. All parts of the nah are held together by jungle vines and twine made of sisal.

Food and its preparation

Foods consumed by both the ancient and modern Maya. Calabasa (squash) and maiz (corn) are in two of the baskets. I have not been able to identify what appears to be fruit in the third basket. Many Maya still practice traditional slash-and-burn agriculture. This method rids the area of insects while fertilizing the soil with the ash. Next, using a pole with a pointed end, the farmer makes a row of holes in the ground. Into these, he drops kernels of maiz and frijol (bean) seeds. As they grow, the beans gather nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, nourishing the roots of the maiz plant. The maiz stalk, in turn, provides a stable surface on which the frijol plant can climb. Calabasa is planted in between the rows. Growing low to the ground and having broad leaves, the squash inhibits weeds. Thus, three crops can be harvested from one field every season. Each supports the growth of the others and the overall process requires much less effort than if they were grown separately. This method of farming has been used since ancient times and continues in use today. 

Wood bench displaying a variety of gourd containers. Gourds are possibly the oldest form of containers used by humans, pre-dating pottery and even baskets. Unlike the latter two, they grow in the wild and don't have to be woven or shaped from clay. Gourds, once dried and cleaned out, are light and sturdy. Their shapes naturally suggest a variety of uses, such as canteens, dippers, bowls, cooking pots, and storage containers for both liquid and dry foods. 

Slinging a basket from a tripod is a simple way to store things up off the ground. This helps keep insects and other critters out of the contents. The use of tripods was widespread in Mesoamerica. Pottery or furniture supported by tripods is much more stable and balanced than similar objects which have four legs. Anyone who has tried to even-up the legs on a four-legged table will know what I mean.

A comal, or cooking griddle, is supported by three chunks of limestone. When in use, the three stones form the boundary of the fire and a good tripod for the comal. This Mesoamerican cooking device dates back to 700 BC. Although the traditional clay comal has largely been supplanted by the metal version seen above, the function is identical. Maiz was central to the diet of the pre-hispanic Maya, as well as the rest of the settled peoples of Mesoamerica. It was first domesticated in southern Mexico around 6700 BC. The ancient method of preparation is still in use in many Mexican households. The kernels are first dried and then soaked in a limewater solution called nixtamal to break down the cellulose. The softened kernels are then ground into a powder on the metate and mixed with water to make a dough called masa. The dough is shaped into thin, circular cakes by slapping it between the palms of the hands. When cooked on a comal, these become tortillas, central to the diet of Mexicans since early pre-hispanic times. 

This completes my posting on Maya life in ancient times. I hope you have enjoyed it and, if so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please leave your email address so that I can respond. 

Hasta luego, Jim

Chiapas Part 8: Museo de Trajes Regional, a stunning collection of tradtionial Maya clothing and textiles

Museo de Trajes Regionales is packed with exquisite Maya textiles and clothing. On our visit to San Cristóbal de las Casas we had a "must-see" list. Near the top was Museo de Trajes Regionales (Museum of Regional Clothiing). Carole does most of our research prior to visiting a new location and this was one of the places that consistently got high marks. In fact, Tripadvisor.com, one of her key sources, ranks the museum as #3 among the top 24 sites to visit in San Cristóbal. However, this excellent private museum is also surprisingly difficult to access.

Finding the place was our initial hurdle. As you can see, there are no signs or other indications of the wonders within. The museum looked like hundreds of other colonial-era houses within a few blocks of the plaza. We made several attempts to find it, asked neighbors, and finally located someone who could physically point it out. Another problem is that Mexican street numbers often follow a non-sequential, rather free-form order. The address is Calle Guadalupe Victoria #38 and it is approximately 3 1/2 blocks west of the Catedral. Here is a Google map showing its exact location. Sergio Castro, the multi-lingual private owner of the collection, provides tours by appointment. The tours are usually held around 6:00 PM. The best approach is to set it up through your hotel concierge or B&B owner. There is no fee, but donations are gratefully accepted. The money goes to provide medical care and other assistance to low-income Maya. Suggested donation is something in the range of $100 pesos ($7.78 USD) or more would be appropriate.

Maya textiles

Traditional hand-looms are used to create the textile works of art. Although the back-strap is absent, it would normally be attached to the ends of the wooden brace at the bottom. The strap runs behind the back of the weaver, who generally sits on the floor or the ground. The other (top) end of the loom would be attached by the hook to a tree or pole. Looms of this sort are very ancient. The earliest woven fabrics found in Mexico were discovered in dry caves in the north and date from between 1800-1400 BC. Ixchel was the ancient Maya goddess of weaving, and she is sometimes portrayed weaving the universe with a back-strap loom. The Spanish introduced the foot-treadle loom in the 16th Century, and the French brought in mechanized weaving in the late 19th Century. However, back-strap looms have continued in use among indigenous people right up to the present.

Tasseled belts with brilliant designs hang from the museum wall. Sergio Castro assembled his collection of textiles, clothing and artifacts from items left with him when he provided medical care to the Maya coming in from the villages surrounding San Cristobal. They were too poor to pay with cash, but too proud to accept charity. Over time, his collection grew to occupy most of his house. He began to offer tours so that more people would appreciate the extraordinary cultural contributions of the highland Maya. His work as a curandero (healer) is financed, in part, by the donations of visiting tourists. Curanderos use traditional healing rituals and techniques, as well as more modern methods. Interestingly, the Maya weaving deity Ixchel was also the goddess of medicine and midwives.

Maya embroidery is often exuberantly colorful. Styles vary from pueblo (village) to pueblo. They range from abstract and geometrical to depictions of animals, plants, people, and daily activities. The only limits are the imaginations of the weaver, which tend to be vivid. In addition to his work as a curandero and curator of Maya costumes and crafts, Sergio Castro served as a state senator (2000-2003) from Chiapas, and is an agricultural engineer and veterinarian. Don Sergio speaks French, Italian, the Mayan dialects of Tzotsil and Tseltal, as well as Spanish and English. In spite of his professional and political background and accomplishments, he is a very unassuming man. Even on formal occasions, he tends to dress in the same way as the poor people who flock to him for help. Most photos of Don Sergio--even at a posh awards ceremony--show him wearing blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a plaid shirt with a kerchief wrapped around his head pirate-style.

Animals and plants, including some from distant lands, adorn this tapestry.  Lilies, egrets and sunflowers would all be within the direct experience of the weaver, but a giraffe? Globalization has shrunk the world to a size where a craftsperson in a remote mountain village in southern Mexico can depict a creature from East Africa on a textile that may end up on the wall of a tourist from Belgium.

Elegantly woven tapestries use intricate geometric shapes. The yellow, red and blue diamond design indicates it may have come from the pueblo of Las Margaritas, southeast of San Cristóbal de las Casas.

This huipil is from San Andres Larrainzar.  The pueblo where this originated is far to the northeast of San Cristóbal, deep in the mountains. The heavy material is probably necessary because of low temperatures in that area. A huipil is a female garment, somewhat like a poncho. Made as a rectanglar piece of cloth, it has a hole in the middle for the head, and is sometimes worn as a blouse or tunic, and sometimes as an outer garment. The sides of the huipil are often sewn up, leaving holes for the arms Generally, huipils are worn with a skirt that extends down to the mid-calf.

Clothing styles differ from pueblo to pueblo

Modern clothing styles are creeping in, but many still wear traditional clothing. Above, you can see the typical traditional garb worn in a particular village. The male outfit is on the left, and the female on the right. Unfortunately, the clothing displays lacked signs, so for some of the photos that follow, I can't always tell you the village of origin. However, the clothing above comes from San Juan Chamula, a short distance outside San Cristobal. I can identify it because of the black wool garment among the man's clothes. Typically, the particular style of embroidery and weaving identify not only the village, but the marital status, social standing, and other details about the person wearing the outfit.

Maya textiles have almost 3000 years of cultural history behind them. The Maya of Chiapas have been influenced by contact with other parts of the Maya world, including Guatemala and Yucatan, as well as by the various ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, such as the Aztecs, Mixtecs and Zapotecs. When the Spanish arrived, they introduced new weaving technologies such as the foot-pedal loom. They also brought new materials such as sheep's wool from Spain and silk from the trade with the Orient. The Maya combined all of this with their traditional techniques, designs and materials to create spectacular outfits like those above and the others that follow. The style of the male hat and tunic indicate that the outfit above may have come from the pueblo of Zinacantan, not far from San Cristobál.

The weaver incorporated feathers into the design of the huipil on the left. The symbols used by the creators of these clothing works-of-art range from representations of the natural world to more abstract symbols. The diamond patterns that one often sees represent a mystical connection with the universe. Some of the designs reflect historical incidents particular to the village in which the weaver lives.

Here, the male outfit is equipped with a gourd and a fibre shoulder bag. The gourd would be used to transport liquids and the fibre sack for dry items. The rebozo draped over the shoulder of the female costume is an all-purpose garment seen throughout Mexico. It serves as a shawl, a baby carrier, and a container for any number of small items. The lightness of the fabrics indicates that the outfits may have been made for the lower, more tropical areas of Chiapas.

For Maya, textiles are the main form of visual art. There are some painters and sculptors, of course, but there are over 1 million Maya women who weave or embroider. The women compete for who can create the most elaborate and beautiful clothing, and their sheer numbers make weaving a very dynamic medium. As the Maya communities have moved from economic dependence on subsistence agriculture to participation in the culture of money and commerce, fashion has also appeared.

The arts of weaving and embroidery are thriving in the Maya highlands. Some experts used to think the craft was a dying art. However, a market has grown within Mexico, and among foreign tourists as well as among the Maya themselves. Ironically, better communications and transportation, which often doom native cultures, have resulted in a Maya textile renaissance. Some experts see Maya textiles as more sophisticated, complex, and technically proficient than they were only a few decades ago.


Specific articles of clothing

Wide-brimmed hats, adorned with multi-colored ribbons, are part of many male outfits. While women do most of the weaving and embroidery, men make the pishalal (wide-brimmed male hat). The men treat hat-making like some women do knitting. It is an activity that is very portable and can be done anywhere, even while chatting among friends. They will often make two new hats each year, to be worn in important pueblo festivals. Ribbons have replaced the feathers of earlier times.

White cotton pants reach to just below the knee. The pants of traditional male outfits are seldom longer than this, which must mean goose-bumped legs on a cold day. The fringed and embroidered tunic reaches to mid-thigh and suggests clothing for a cooler climate. In ancient times, men wore breech cloths rather than pants. The Spanish priests thought this immodest and insisted they adopt Spanish-style pants. However, an ancient vestige of the breech clothes has survived in the beautifully embroidered belts often seen in traditional male outfits.

Doing sandals in the old-fashioned way. I have seen ancient paintings of men wearing sandals very similar in style to this. The Maya seem to follow the old dictum, "if it works, don't fix it." Traditional Maya women peddling their wares on the streets of San Cristóbal often wear sandals even in cold, wet weather.

Embroidered cotton cloth forms a background for a tumpline. This handy device is an ancient invention for carrying heavy loads on the back. The wide section of the tumpline is placed around the forehead or just above it. The two long straps extend back over the shoulders and are attached to the load. Use of a tumpline allows a man to carry a load of 56.6 kilos (125 lbs) with relative ease for long distances. As late as the 1920s, a man in Mexico City used one of these to deliver pianos on his back. In my travels around Mexico's back country, I still see men and women carrying large bundles of firewood and other loads using similar tumplines.  The Maya call the tumpline a mecapal. Given that the ancient Maya had no other beast of burden than a human being, and that many in Mexico today are too poor to afford a horse or burro, a macapal is a simple and very logical tool.

These two outfits are from San Juan Chamula. The black and white tunics are the tip-off. They are made with furry wool and are called capixay. This warm outer garment is usually worn over an embroidered shirt. Note the typically short length of the white cotton pants. The leather shoulder bags are a handy accessory since the pants and capixay don't appear to be equipped with pockets.


Other items of use

Children's clothes fill a couple of walls at Don Sergio's museum. Maya children are dressed as miniature adults, with the same elaborate embroidery that appears on their elder's clothes.

The museum collection includes various hand-made children's toys. A beautiful miniature collie sits in front of a horse with a doll on its back. To the left is a figure carrying an automatic weapon and wearing high yellow cowboy boots and what looks like a green football helmet.

A carved wooden jaguar mask snarls from the wall. Such masks would be worn in Maya religious festivals and rituals. Jaguars were, and are, revered among indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. The biggest cat in the Western Hemisphere, the jaguar is immensely strong, fast, cunning. His  tendency to hunt at night gives him a connection with the Underworld.

This completes my posting on Sergio Castro's Museo de Trajes Regional. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, and you would like to comment or leave a question, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly.

If you leave a question in the Comments section, PLEASE leave your email address so I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim

Chiapas Part 13: Zinacantan, center of Maya weaving & embroidery in the "Land of Bats"

A mother and her two young sons pause for a photograph in Zinacantan. Carole and I visited Zinacantan on the same tour that took us to the pueblo of Chamula (see Part 9 of this series).  It is ordinarily difficult to get the Maya in Chiapas to pose for a photo, but for a small fee, this woman agreed. I am glad she did because she provides a wonderful example of the day-to-day clothing of local Maya and how they wear it. Her beautifully embroidered shawl is called a tzute. Her son, standing in front, wears a jorongo (poncho) similar to those worn by the men of the community. In addition to the embroidered flowers, it has fringe along the bottom and long tassels on either side.

The Pueblo of Zinacantan

Low clouds drift over the pine-covered hills surrounding the small agricultural community. Zinacantan means "land of the bats," although we never saw any durng our visit. The town's elevation is 2558 m (8392 ft), so it gets plenty of precipitation and everything is lush and green. The area reminded us of Oregon, where Carole and I lived for 20 years. While there are almost 30,000 people in the municipalidad (county), the town itself has only about 8,500. The remainder are scattered in the hills in tiny hamlets and individual farms. Of Zinacantan's population, 98% are Tzotzil-speaking Maya, and they jealously guard their culture and traditions.  For a Google map showing Zinacantan and its relationship to Chamula and San Cristóbal de las Casas, click here.

Greenhouses line the slopes of the Zinacantan's small valley. The area's climate makes it ideal for the growing of flowers, making it one of the three pillars of the local economy. The other two are textiles and maiz (corn). As the town has grown, and more land has been devoted to flowers, there has been less land available for maiz cultivation. Local men often have to walk as much as a day's journey to their milpas (small fields) in Chiapas' lowlands. There, they live and work for weeks at a time. Why not just grow flowers and import the maiz from other areas? The answer lies in the deep connection between maiz and culture. The Maya have been growing maiz since at least 2500 BC. Their famous calendars were originally developed to pinpoint the correct times for planting and harvesting. The god of maiz, Hun Nal Yeh, also known as Yum Kaax, was one of the most important deities in the Maya pantheon. The cultivation, harvesting, preparation and consumption of maiz are woven into every aspect of the traditional Maya life and worldview.

Inside a greenhouse, hundreds of pink cosmos bloom. The tour guide was sympathetic to my photographic instincts and she stopped our van so I could peek inside one of the greenhouses. Once harvested, some of these flowers may be loaded into chrome-encrusted, red pickup trucks and transported to the Mercado Municipal in San Cristóbal. Others may be driven hundreds of miles to Mérida in Yucatan or other distant locations. As you will soon see, the presence of beautiful flowers in Zinacantan has led to their incorporation in the designs of the textiles produced here.


An eclectic religious tradition

At the edge of town, we encountered a small cement altar set with three crosses. These were very similar to the crosses we saw at the plaza in Chamula. In both places the crosses had a similar appearance, with green paint and circular tips. In both places, the crosses were decorated with pine wreathes. One difference was that the Chamula crosses had small circles containing 8-pointed crosses carved on the cross pieces and tips. The crosses above lack this decoration. During ceremonies, a statue or picture of a saint is sometimes placed in the niche below the crosses. In the ancient Maya religion, a cross represented the Ceiba, or World Tree. The Ceiba can be found in Chiapas' lowland areas and grows as tall as 70 m (230 ft). The huge buttress roots can be taller than a grown man, and the canopy spreads over the jungle. The Maya's World Tree has its roots in the underworld, its trunk in terrestrial life, and its canopy (represented by the cross-piece) in the heavens. A carving of the World Tree can be seen at Palenque in the ruins of the Temple of the Foliated Cross. As at Chamula, the Maya of Zinacantan seem to have retained much of their ancient beliefs, but incorporated elements of Catholicism in order to keep themselves on the right side of their Spanish overlords.

A family altar. Flowers, pictures of holy figures, statues of various animals, and numerous candles were incorporated into this elaborate altar. We found it in the entrance hall of a shop selling textiles. Many traditional Maya homes contain similar altars.

A row of clay animals stands in front of the altar. Included are dogs, a horse, and a giraffe. Each has a lit candle on its back. The animals are totems meant to protect the house.


A visit to a textile shop

A back-strap loom, ready to use. The loom's leather back-strap is clearly visible, as are the shuttles used to weave the thread. The far end (out of sight) is usually attached to a post, tree, or other upright support. Backstrap looms can be used to create brocade designs as well as plain weaves, unlike treadle (foot-powered) looms. Ixchel, the Maya moon goddess, was the patron of weaving. She was the consort of Iztamna, the father of the gods. In ancient times, Ixchel was often depicted using a backstrap loom to weave the universe. Various kinds of products can be woven on these looms, but one of the most common is the huipil (blouse) worn by Maya and other indigenous women.

Male poncho, called a jorongo. Men, as well as women, wear colorful, flowered garments with fringe and tassels. The jorongo worn by the little boy in the first photo of this posting is a small version of this one. The garment is worn over other clothing, sometimes including blue jeans and other non-traditional items. Women, on the other hand, seem to dress traditionally from head to toe.

Woman's wedding huipil. The wedding huipil is called a k'uk'umal chil il.  White chicken feathers are woven into the embroidery. This wedding huipil is longer than the ones used for daily wear. It is worn with a dark, embroidered skirt.

The feathers of the k'uk'umal chil il symbolize the attributes of a good marriage. Chickens are part of the daily life of the community. They do not fly, even though they have feathers, and they stay close to the home.

A red jorongo hangs beside a blue and white tzute. The little shop was packed with beautiful clothing like this, as well as wall hangings. tablecloths, and other woven, brocaded and embroidered textiles.

The textiles came in all sizes, designs, and prices. The members of our tour group poked about and eventually picked out a few items for purchase. I didn't have much use for a jorongo, but I bought a few small items as family gifts. Many of the items seen above are available for purchase at the plaza in front of San Cristóbal's Catedral, as well as at the mercado surrounding the Templo Santo Domingo, and the crafts booths in Chamula. However, they are likely to be more expensive at those locations.

Eagles, egrets, monkeys, dogs and lions filled a box in the shop. While some adults might swoon over a tzute or jorongo, kids of all ages would enjoy these. These little critters show creativity and humor of the Tzotzil.


Templo San Lorenzo Martyr

Three green crosses, adorned with wreathes, face the Templo across a wide plaza. Prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1524, the town was an important commercial hub and was the center of the Tzotzil culture. A Mexica (Aztec) general called Tiltototl conquered the town in 1486. The Tzotzil were required to produce tribute items including salt, cacao, and tobacco.

A sharp, but heavily forested, volcanic knob overlooks the Templo's plaza. Strung across the plaza are banners put up to celebrate the August 8-10 Feast of San Lorenzo Martyr, patron saint of Zinacantan. San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence) was one of seven deacons in the early Church in Rome. He was born in Spain in 225 AD and martyred in Rome during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian in 258 AD. As a deacon, one of his jobs was to protect the treasures of the Church. Another was assisting the poor and the sick. When a Roman official demanded that Lorenzo turn over the treasures, he concealed them, including (according to legend) the Holy Grail, the chalice Christ used at the Last Supper. The deacon then gathered all the poor and sick and presented them, saying "this is our treasure!" The official ordered Lorenzo to be slowly roasted alive on a grille. The legend say he felt little pain because he was already on fire with his faith. After he had roasted for a while on one side, he famously said "I'm well done. Turn me over!" As a result, he is the patron of cooks and chefs, among others.

Templo San Lorenzo was built on the site of the first Dominican church. Dominican friars constructed the first church in Zinacantan church in 1546.  That early structure was made of adobe with a thatched roof. The bishop of Chiapas at the time was Bartolome de las Casas, the great defender of the indigenous people of  Nueva España. He donated a library, jewels, and two great clocks. The church has been rebuilt several times since then. The most recent reconstruction occurred during the 19th Century when the interior was decorated in its present Neo-classical style. Note the colorful banners, similar to those strung in the plaza for the August fiesta.

The entrance was lavishly decorated for the Feast Day. The words on the arch over the doorway say "Long live San Lorenzo Martyr. Welcome to Zinacantan." I have read there is a sign near the door prohibiting the sacrifice of chickens on the floor of the church during prayers. However, I didn't notice it when I visited. In nearby San Juan Chamula, chicken sacrifices at the church are normal practice.

The whole place was lush with bouquets of flowers. Apparently, like the church at Chamula, photography is forbidden here. However, our guide did not mention this, I had seen no signs, and nobody approached us about it. I happily clicked away, as I had done in so many other Mexican churches. Later, after reading the accounts of others who visited before me, I realized my faux pas. Fortunately, no one seemed upset about it and I escaped censure.

The side chapel was as large and almost as richly decorated as the main nave. Notice the row of lit candles along the rail across the front. Colored electric lights have sometimes replaced candles in Mexican churches, perhaps because of the fire hazard. 

Jesus, draped with ribbons containing messages, stands at the center of the side chapel's altar. It is often the practice in Mexican churches to leave a request or message of thanks on a ribbon draped over one of the sacred figures. I had previously identified this figure as San Charbel Malouf, but one of my blog viewers corrected me.

This concludes Part 13 of my Chiapas series. I hope you have enjoyed it and learned something about the wonderfully creative Maya of Zinacantan. I always welcome feedback, questions, and corrections. If you would like to do so, please leave your thoughts in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you use the Comments section and yours don't immediately appear, it is because I moderate all comments to eliminate spam and there is therefore a short delay.

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Hasta luego, Jim