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Just 85km from Tuxtla Gutierrez, SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS is almost 1700m higher - a cool place with an unrivalled provincial colonial charm. Its low, whitewashed red-tiled houses seem huddled together on the plain as if to keep out enemies; indeed, the town was designed as a Spanish stronghold among an often hostile indigenous population - the attack by Zapatista rebels in January 1994 was the latest in a long series of uprisings. It took the Spanish four years to pacify the area sufficiently to establish a town here in 1528. Officially named "Ciudad Real" (Royal City), it was more widely known as "Villaviciosa" (Evil City) for the oppressive exploitation exercised by its colonists. In 1544, Bartolome de las Casas was appointed bishop, and promptly took an energetic stance in defence of the native population, playing a similar role to that of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga in Patzcuaro. His name - added to that of the patron saint of the town - was held in something close to reverence by the indigenas . Throughout the colonial era, San Cristobal was the capital of Chiapas, then administered as part of Guatemala, and it lost this rank in 1892 only as a result of its reluctance to accept the union with Mexico. Though it's the local crafts and the indigenous way of life that draw people to San Cristobal, this romanticization is not always appreciated by the indigena themselves, who not surprisingly resent being treated as tourist attractions or objects of amateur anthropology. Nevertheless, the life of the town depends on the life of the people from surrounding villages, who fill its streets and dominate its trade. Many of the salespeople are expulsados - converts to evangelical Protestantism expelled by the village leaders - now living in shanties on the edge of town and unable to make a living from farming. The women making crafts to sell to tourists soon took advantage of the publicity generated by the Zapatistas; the most popular souvenirs are now Marcos dolls , complete with ski mask, rifle and bandoliers - there's even a female Zapatista doll of Romana, who is reputed to be in a position of command in the movement. Despite being the main focus of the Zapatista attack, the town was only occupied for thirty hours, and no tourists were harmed. Many, in fact, took advantage of the opportunity to be photographed with the rebels and San Cristobal remains one of the most restful and enjoyable places in the republic to spend a few days doing very little, with an infrastructure set to cater for its young, predominantly European visitors
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