Pueblo Magico : Comitán de Domíngues

Just a small number of the flowers inside
San Carlampio church

The Mexican Tourism Board has designated a number of cities in Mexico as Pueblo Magico, an honor indicating a place of exceptional beauty, historical significance, and tourist opportunities that provide a "magical" experience. Most are colonial cities, built before 1650, in the first 150 years of Spanish occupation of the New World. Some like San Cristóbal de las Casas and Comitán de Domíngues in Chiapas were founded a mere fifty years after Cortes invaded the mainland of Mexico.

Until 1915, Comitán was known as Comitán de las Flores (of the flowers). It was renamed after its native son, senator Dr. Belisario Domingues, was murdered for speaking out against the Huerta government. President Huerta himself was one of a group of men who murdered Dominguez. They cut off his tongue as a symbolic warning to others. 

Comitán is lower in altitude than San Cristóbal where I have lived periodically for nine months. It's warmer but at a high enough elevation the hotels don't have air conditioning. It is still a place of flowers. Bougainvillea are everywhere, along with many varieties of flowering trees. Every little garden glimpsed through open gates is a flower showcase of color. The Mayans have also used colorful bromeliads from the vast rain forest in their religious celebrations for centuries. Many are now becoming endangered. 

A couple, dancing in the Zocalo

Unlike San Cristóbal, Comitán does not have the foreign tourist draw, and thus has been spared the negative side of massive tourism. There are no wandering street vendors who thrust goods in your face while you sit at a sidewalk cafe trying to eat lunch or talk with your friends. There are almost no beggars. An assortment of shoe shine boys wander the streets with their boxes, and people sit in the shade in the Zocalo with their packets of gum and candy for sale. Little stands are posted here and there on the streets selling tacos, belts and knock-off handbags. But as a tourist, time spent in Comitán is tranquil, without constant bombardment to buy-give-buy. 

Comitán seems to have a forward-thinking city government. Many modern sculptures by some very famous Mexican artists dot the city and Zocalo. Belisario Dominguez' daughter donated her home for a modern art museum, his own home is a historical museum, and the city has a good selection of artifacts from Tenam Puente and Chinkultic in the archeological museum. Housed in that same building is a decent library with a large Internet center and several interesting historical murals. 

Around the Zocalo are small restaurants, side by side, competing with each other by having virtually identical menus. The competition is between the handsome young men who try to persuade you to eat at their particular establishment. And there's a good coffee shop in a corner of the Zocalo with modern murals gracing its interior. 

Iglesia de San Caralampio

A few blocks from the Zocalo, another interesting church, frequented by the local indigenous people, is the center for many celebrations and fairs that set up in the large plaza. Iglesia de San Caralampio is a bright yellow church almost always filled with the sweet scent of thousands of flowers. Outside, the sacred jaguar is represented by a lovely sculpture atop a bright red rock.

Comitán is a center of commerce with many businesses lining the carretera, the main highway through town. It has old and modern hotels, excellent restaurants that serve traditional Chiapanecan food, and a few restaurants feature other cuisines. I ate at one, Cucina Italia, recently opened by an Canadian-Italian and his Comitán born wife. The lasagna was as good as any I've ever eaten, even in Italy. He makes the pastas, and the sauces from fresh tomatoes, picked that morning, and delivered to the market.

The people of Comitán are friendly and courteous. The pace is slow and the desire to enjoy each moment in life is a measure of the local character. A lovely city, and well deserving of its designation: Pueblo Magico.

Santo Domingo de Guzman Church 

Great coffee shop on the Zocalo 

Friendly corn-on-the-cob vendor

Hundreds of bromeliads decorate
the portal of the San Caralampio church

Modern art in the Zocalo, this is a
bust of poet Rosario Castellanos

The sacred jaguar

Comitan

Arnulf

My German buddy, Arnulf, said he would accompany me to Amantenango, a small village south of San Cristobal, to see the sculptors. Around town, the most amazing jaguars, snakes, pumas, and lizards appear in the galleries, made from local clay and painted in elaborate designs. The faces share a similar countenance, that of the artist herself. The premier artists are two women: Juana and Maria Isabel.

Back in April , when I was doing volunteer work for Brigitte, photographing the indigenous artists, we had gone to Amatenango to take pictures of Juana. But it was too late in the day to get good shots and she wasn't very willing to do it that day for some reason. We promised to come back, but that never happened.  Eventually, John took some photos of Juana because he stayed here in Chiapas longer than I did.

The travel books tell of going to Amantenango and being overwhelmed by little children selling their own 'animalitos' to the tourists. Driving through the tiny town, you'd almost miss it, except for the plethora of road side stands packed with painted pottery, baskets and sculptures. The best ones, of course, are from the pro's studios, and those are not so easy to find.

A Rodin-like sculpture in the Plaza.

So, Arnulf and I took a Combi headed to Comitan for $40 pesos. I realized that while the Combi driver might let us off at Amantenango, the price would be the same for the trip to Comitan, which is twice as far away. I suggested we go to Comitan, see what's there, have lunch, and then see the pottery on the way back. Of course, for the moment, I forgot we were in Mexico, the Land of Manana. Nothing happens quickly.

We hiked all around Comitan, which was quite a bit further than expected, bigger and hillier than I'd remembered.  The combi trip took a full two hours and that was with no stops to speak of, just a lot of slowing down to ooze over the topes, those half round log-sized speed bumps that every village seems fond of putting into the middle of the highway. Usually there is a little tienda selling drinks and trinkets next to the tope. I'm guessing a lot of drivers end up breaking an axle when they don't see the tope looming up ahead, and are then in need of sustenance while they wait for help.

Comitan's delightful Plaza.

Comitan is an old city, with many ruins nearby, an unknown fact to us until we went through the museum of anthropology, which, by the way, was free. Lunch was in a nice restaurant that seemed quite popular though I've had much better food at Malena's hole in the wall.  The Plaza has several impressive sculptures.We visited some churches and talked about trees and plants that were unknown to us, growing at that much lower elevation. The day was hot though not as muggy as it might be later during the rainy season. It's a pretty town. At one time I had thought to get an apartment there for a month, just to experience a town with almost NO tourists, certainly without English speakers. But after a day, we both agreed that while it was worth the trip, but not a great place to live.

Around 4pm we boarded a large 2nd class bus, at half the Combi price, for the trip back to San Cristobal. When it finally reached Amantenango, it was almost dark and the vendors were closing up shop. Clearly the large buses would be coming less frequently, so we opted to try again another day.

Full sized Puma or Mountain Lion sculpture,
in front of a church.

Old Mayan pot in the museum.

Another of the lovely
Plaza sculptures.

Arnulf and I both enjoy walking so we walked the couple miles back to the casita for a light dinner of salad, finished off with Kahlua ice cream. It's difficult to eat enough vegetables in Mexico, unless you eat a lot of soups. Fresh, clean, cold salads are hard to come by. The restaurants don't want to mess with making sure the salad greens are super clean and disinfected.  A delicious end to another spectacular day in Mexico!