More Maya Missions: Exploring Colonial Chiapas

Noted for its dramatic scenery, this remote province with its large Maya population has long fascinated travellers, especially its ancient Maya cities of Palenque, Toniná, and Chincultic. The unique Maya folk culture of Chiapas has survived in the highland villages, but the area also has a less well-known Spanish heritage. For over three hundred years, Chiapas was ruled from Guatemala, and today this legacy lives on in its language, culture, and rich variety of Spanish colonial buildings. These range from sophisticated urban churches, convents, and palaces, to old Dominican missions and vernacular village churches in the countryside.

This new book will intrigue travellers along the Ruta Maya. Three itineraries cover all the principal monuments of the region, which include cathedrals, ornate parish churches, and fortress-like monasteries in addition to rural missions. All the buildings are described in their original settings and illustrated with original line drawings.

Richard D. Perry is the author of Maya Missions and Mexico's Fortress Monasteries (both available from UNM Press).