Chiapa de Corzo Tourist Attractions

About 18km/11mi east of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, on the Carretera Panaméricana, is the little town of Chiapa de Corzo (415 m (1362 ft); population 40,000). Even from the main road-junction a one-storey restored pyramid can be seen, inside which a tomb has been discovered.The excavations undertaken by the New World Archaeological Foundation have demonstrated that the area around Chiapa del Corzo, like that around Izapa, was one of the oldest pre-Columbian sites in Meso-America. The ceramics which have been found here suggest that the region was settled from 1400 bc until a.d. 950, in other words from early formative times up to the Classic period. The oldest date inscription so far found in the archaeology of America was uncovered here on the Stela 2 and this corresponds to the date of December 8th 36 bc. The stela is today housed in the Museo Regional in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The identity of the builders of this religious site is not known; a transitional period between the Olmecs and the Mayas or a proto-Maya civilisation are possibilities which have been mentioned.The present-day town was founded in 1528 by the conquistador Diego de Mazariagos around an enormous ceiba tree (ceiba pendantra), which was worshipped by the Indians. The tree is today known as "La Pochota" (Náhuatl: "póchotl" = "the hunchback"). The Church of Santo Domingo is worth visiting. Built in the middle of the 16th c., it has undergone several alterations since then. The octagonal fountain in the Zócalo is curious: begun by Pater Rodrigo de León in 1552 and completed 10 years later, it is conceived in the Moorish style and in its construction resembles the Spanish royal crown. The tiny lacquer museum (Museo de Laca), which presents a comparison of local with Chinese lacquerwork in a vivid way, is also to be found on the Zócalo.