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CHIAPA DE CORSO |
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CHIAPA DE CORZO is an elegant little town overlooking the river,
barely twenty minutes by bus east from Tuxtla. An important centre in
Preclassic times, this is the place where the oldest Long Count date ,
corresponding to December 7, 36 BC, has been found on a stela. The
remaining ruins are on private land behind the Nestlé plant, beyond the
far end of 21 de Octubre. There are at least a dozen places to eat on
the riverside here, and plenty to see: the most striking feature is an
amazingly elaborate sixteenth-century fountain, which dominates the
plaza. Built of brick in the Mudéjar style, in the shape of the Spanish
crown, the fountain is one of the most spectacular surviving early
colonial monuments in Mexico - a tribute to the painstaking restoration.
The small museum of regional handicrafts next to the cathedral, in a
cobbled courtyard surrounded by the ancient brick arches of the Convento
de Santo Domingo (Tues-Sun 10am-4pm; US$0.50), features the local
painted and lacquered gourds.
There are two hotels in town: the basic Los Angeles (no phone; US$10-15),
on the southeast corner of the zócalo; and the newer, more upmarket
Hotel La Ceiba , Domingo Ruíz 300 (tel & fax 9/616-0389, laceiba5@prodigy.net.mx
; US$25-40), three blocks west from the plaza, which is very quiet and
comfortable, with a/c rooms and a small pool.
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