In this area of the state there has been a Zoque settlement since pre-Hispanic times. They gave their environment a meaning, which made the landscape a connection with the deities of the sky, water, wind and earth. Touring the sites of the sacred geography gives a new meaning to the trip through Chiapas. The hill of La Chumpa in Jiquipilas, the hill of Mactumactzá -which watches over Tuxtla Gutiérrez-, the canyons of La Venta River and El Sumidero, are sacred refuges full of legend and devotion.
During colonial times, many cattle ranches and agricultural estates flourished in western Chiapas. Some of these farms or haciendas are part of rural or adventure tourism. El Zapote, La Valdiviana, La Providencia and Las Cruces, in the municipality of Cintalapa, are some of the haciendas that can be visited. They are old constructions, mainly from the 19th century, partly restored for rural tourism, a practice that is growing little by little in the state of Chiapas.
The old haciendas or farms are milestones in the history of Chiapas. Their lands were part of the cultivation of indigo, corn, beans, sugar cane and henequen, a product exploited in the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The houses have wide corridors, with attached chapels. The presence of African slaves in colonial times also turned them into places of diffusion of the marimba, an emblematic instrument of Chiapas.
In Chiapas there are currently 12 different indigenous languages spoken, whose speakers, in addition to having a common language that identifies and characterizes them, preserve their particular dress, beliefs, traditions and way of being, a situation that gives them uniqueness and shape the country as a colorful and varied cultural mosaic.
In this geographical area of Chiapas, one of the least studied groups predominates, which makes it even more fascinating: the Zoques, who occupy the northwestern part of the state of Chiapas and whose language is disappearing due to the passage of modernity. The women continue to wear traditional clothing on special days, consisting of a long colored or checkered skirt, depending on the region, and a huipil or white blouse with extraordinary embroidery around the neck.
The traditions and customs that are still preserved today, sustain their ethnic identity. The ritual practices and pre-Hispanic beliefs that still survive today as vestiges of the festivals and rituals of our primitive indigenous roots that united us thanks to the geography, language and history of this wonderful culture.
January 1 to 31
Child sitting
Place: Chiapas
February 2
La Candelaria
Place: Cintalapa, Chiapas
March 1 to 31
Coiteco Carnival
Place: Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, Chiapas
April 20 to 27
San Marcos Fair
Place: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
May 3
Santa Cruz
Place: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
June 24 to 26
Feast of Saint John the Baptist
Place: Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, Chiapas
August 1 to 10
Santo Domingo
Place: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
August 10 to 15
Fair of the Virgin of the Assumption
Place: Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, Chiapas
August 16 to 25
San Roque Fair
Place: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
September 13 to 16
National holidays
Place: Chiapas
October 1 to 31
Descent of the Virgencitas de Copoya
Place: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
November 1 to 2
The day of all saints and the day of the dead
Place: Chiapas
December 12
Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe
Place: Chiapas
Chiapas surprises for its biodiversity, but also for its natural resources, as well as for the tourist possibilities found in its great rivers, lakes, majestic mountains and multitude of canals and estuaries on the coast, with their own characteristics that form an intricate network of possibilities where plant and animal life has found the ideal environments for each form of life represented in Chiapas.
This region of Mexico is one of the areas with the greatest biodiversity established in a variety of habitats distributed in the numerous ecosystems. For this reason, it is said that with the exception of the desert and the eternal snows, all the environments that are present in the national territory are found in this wonderful land, "Chiapas".
In Tuxtla Gutierrez it is possible to acquire handcrafted products from all over the state, textiles, pottery, wood sculptures, basketry, among others. The store of the "Instituto Casa de las Artesanías de Chiapas" is an excellent option to acquire high quality products.
In the traditional markets it is possible to acquire various pieces of amber jewelry, the Chiapas gem, as well as leather or tin articles.
Also, it is said that Berriozábal is the cradle of the great masters of aparejo, a technique that consists in the elaboration of hammocks. In this place, only 20 minutes from the city, you can find hammocks of exceptional quality made by the wise artisans.
In Ocozocoautla de Espinosa, objects of singular beauty are made, such as drums and rattles, among others. With carved wood masks of the main characters are made for the Zoque Coiteco carnival; in addition to the elaboration of pottery in the neighboring town of Ocuilapa, which together with Cintalapa produce high quality ceramics.
Many of the customs and traditions that make up the soul of Chiapas have come down to the present from the haciendas. The first marimbas, the iconic instrument of Chiapas. The west of Chiapas is a land of surprises, the haciendas, the wide agricultural and livestock valleys are preserved. Zoque elements are also preserved and prodigious natural spaces such as the Cañón de la Venta and the Sima de las Cotorras are shown. In gastronomy, the autochthonous elements of the ancestral milpa converge, as in music, with European, African and even recent Asian elements. It is a land to enjoy, for example, tamales in an unusual variety such as chipilín or jacuané, accompanied by the notes of the marimba.
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