The dominican mission of Copanaguastla, Chiapas

Raised as a formal convent at the chapter celebrated in 1556, the monastery of Copanaguastla was the fifth in chronological order among those founded by the Dominicans in Chiapas and Guatemala. In the 16th century the surrounding territory, the Depresión Central of Chiapas, was especially rich because of its cotton fields, minerals, cattle ranching and location along the Camino Real (Royal Road) to Guatemala.

The Dominican responsible for the design and construction of the church was Fray Francisco de la Cruz who had accompanied Fray Domingo de Ara to work on the construction of the building. He did it until the roof burned when it was struck by lightning in 1564. He may also have supervised and worked on the reconstruction until the time of his death in 1567/1568.

The monastery was in use from 1556 to 1629, a period of about sixty years. It was abandoned in 1629, because a pestilence broke out, killing many of the Indians, so that it was decided to move the convent and the Indian population of the town itself to a healthier location at Socoltenango. But Fray Francisco Ximénez, historian of the dominicans, affirms that the persistent worship of pre-Hispanic deities, hidden behind the main altar of the church, brought divine punishment.

Due to this historic circumstances, the Temple of Copanaguastla is one of the few sixteenth century monuments still preserving its original character. It represents a local version of the Renaissance style, disseminated from Italy to Spain, to central Mexico and finally almost a century later to this remote outpost in Chiapas.

The ruins of the convent of Copanaguastla (Manuel Mandujano, Corpus, el milagro de Copanaguastla, Amazon, 2020)

The founding act of the convent of Copanaguastla

Three years later [1557], Monsignor don fray Tomás Casillas again donated this church [of Copanaguastla] to the Order to complete the first donation that his predecessor, Monsignor don fray Bartolomé de las Casas had made of Cinacantlán, when he left for the Council of Mexico and from there to Spain.

"We, don fray Tomás Casillas, bishop of Ciudad Real in the province of Chiapa, by the grace of the Holy Apostolic See and the Council of His Majesty, etc., do hereby declare the following In view of the fact that, on the initiative of the vicar and religious of Saint Dominic of the village of Copanabastla, the residents and natives of the said village have built a church in which the divine offices are celebrated and in which the other holy sacraments of our mother, the holy Church, are administered to them, while preaching to them and teaching them for their salvation the things of our holy Catholic faith ; And because the progress of the said churches, which are being or will be built in our diocese, is incumbent upon Us, as bishop and prelate of this diocese. And because the said church belongs to the said religious, for the reason that it was built on their initiative and through their work, and to serve an inhabited region.

Finally, considering these elements and the benefit that the inhabitants of the said village have derived from it, being imposed upon them a Christian and polite life, for which God our Lord has been and will be well served. We hereby, by virtue of the authority granted to Us by His Holiness, and in compliance with the most valid and least disputable legal forms. We assign the said church to the vicar and religious of Monsieur Saint Dominique of the said convent and monastery in the village of Copanabastla, who reside there o will reside thereafter. And We donate it to them for the duration of our present life and irrevocably forever for the future. And We give them full power, in application of this contract, to allow the said religious, whoever they may be, to take possession of the said church, in person or in any other form they may see fit. And until they take possession, We act on their behalf, as interim guardian of the church. In witness whereof We grant the present and sign it with our name, cause it to be countersigned by the secretary hereinafter named and seal it with our seal. Done at Ciudad Real, on the eleventh day of January in the year one thousand five hundred and fifty-seven of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Frater Thomas Episcopus Civitatis Regalis. By order of his most revered lordship. Gaspar de Santa Cruz. Writer to His Majesty."

(Fray Antonio de Remesal, Historia general de las Indias occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala, libro X, capítulo IV)

Tourism promotion for Chiapas, the nave of the church of Copanaguastla, "walls telling histories"

Copanaguastla church catches fire

‘The year [1564] was very dry and corn was harvested only in the high and humid mountains, and so there was a great famine in the lands of Copanabastla, Chiapa and others, and the inhabitants of Chiapa went in groups, both men and women, hiring themselves out to spin and work in the neighbouring villages in order to earn their food. Something never seen before.

‘In Copanabastla, in addition to hunger, there was another misfortune: a fire in the church, so sudden that the convent was saved with great difficulty. And the Lord repeated this misfortune twice at Zacapula, where in the same year the convent and the church burnt down from one end to the other, right down to the foundations, without being able to do anything about it. And in Copanabastla, a bolt of lightning set fire to the church, to the great sorrow of the fathers and the natives, because it had just been covered with a very solid framework, which gave the roof the appearance of a beautiful interlacing.

(Fray Antonio de Remesal, Historia general de las Indias occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala, libro X, capítulo XVIII)

Fray Francisco de la Cruz in Copanaguastla

"When Father Domingo de Ara went to occupy Copanabastla for the first time, he took Father Francisco de la Cruz with him. He was still a novice and not really considered capable of learning the local language (Tzeltal); he was therefore sent first and foremost to help with the construction of the church and convent, without any illusions about the help he could give in evangelising the Indians. But the good father put so much effort into learning the language that they all had to admit they had made a mistake. He studied all the questions and answers of the catechism in this language and practised by repeating them to a little dummy called a chicubite, which he had in the middle of his cell and to whom he spoke as if it were one of his Indian disciples. He would then preach a sermon to it, and as the listener never tired or frowned when the preacher made a mistake, or stopped to think about what to say, or repeated what he had already said, or started reading his notes to remember the exact words he should use, this exercise often lasted all night, and Fr. Francisco would leave in the morning having made great progress. By this means, he learned the language to perfection in a short time, and greatly helped his companions in the holy ministry of evangelising the Indians."

(Fray Antonio de Remesal, Historia general de las Indias occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala, libro XI, capítulo II)

The depresión central of Chiapas -los Llanos-, where is located the convent of Copanaguastla, as seen from the Chiflón waterfall (On the foreground, the extremity of the tableland of los Altos de Chiapas; on the horizon, beyond the depresión central, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas is visible, on the south)

Fray Francisco Ximénez describes the Copanaguastla region:

"I will say little about Copanaguastla because most of the people who live there are the same as those of Cinacantlan, and their language is so close to it that the preachers who speak to the one also understand the other: the Spaniards know them as Quelenes. The Copanaguastla site and its surroundings are an absolute wonder, not least because of their climate: it's never too cold or too hot. There is an abundance of everything the Indians eat, from maize to chilli peppers and everything else they eat; the land produces cotton, from which all the neighbouring regions derive clothing; it is a very flat region, with vast meadows for cattle; just behind it there are mountains from which gold is extracted; It can be compared in every way to Jericho, since there is a multitude of palm trees bearing excellent fruit, although we did not eat any for the first four years, the Indians not having provided us with any, thinking that we did not want any; there are large irrigated fields and other remarkable things. The great drawback of this region is that up until now it has not had an Elysium responsible for purifying the water: a land of palm trees, like Jericho, its waters transmit the same disease; there are indeed a few small fountains which now supply the brothers with water, whereas this was not the case in the past; but the water is generally bad and brackish."

(Fray Francisco Ximénez, Historia de la Provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala, Tomo tercero, Capítulo XLVIII, De los pueblos de Sinacantlán y Copanaguastlán, y del estado en que hallaron la tierra, Editorial José de Pineda Ibarra, Guatemala, 1965)

The sins of the people of Copanaguastla

"God hates all sins, but idolatry is the one His Divine Majesty abominates most. [This was the sin of the inhabitants of Copanaguastla, according to what we can deduce from ancient documents, who knelt at the same time before the true God and his Most Holy Mother and before the idol of their ancestors. They fell and persevered in this fault, even though God had given them as teachers, to teach them the path of truth, the best evangelisers there were in this holy province: Br. Tomas Casillas and Bro. Pedro de la Cruz, among many others mentioned in this work, who showed them the true path to glory, not only by their marvellous preaching but, even better, by their very holy lives, as we have seen. [...]

‘The main reason for God's just indignation against these wretched people is attributed by all to the fact that, in order to worship the idol (or demon) they worshipped, they placed it behind the Most Holy Image of the Rosary and thus, pretending to visit the Holy Image, they could more freely and shamelessly offer their fumigations to the demon behind the altarpiece of Our Sovereign Lady. This went on for a long time, or so it seems: the altar was very popular, and the religious, in their credulity, were very pleased to see how many people had recourse to Mary Most Holy, the only haven of piety. This frequentation was maintained while Divine justice fell upon these wretched people in the form of a persistent plague which killed them without delay; this initially gave the religious great confidence that Divine justice would be appeased, but they were supremely distressed to see that the influx of all the inhabitants of the village to this altar did not produce any effect."

Comitan, procession of San Caralampio, protector against bubonic plague in Chiapas (february 2024)

"His Divine Majesty was then kind enough to discover to His Ministers the origin of His just indignation, and so He allowed a Religious, praying in a secluded part of the Church, to see an Indian woman, no doubt unaware of the presence of the idol, asking Our Lady, with great fervour and exclamations, to remedy the many misfortunes afflicting her. He was close by and could hear her cries, when he saw an Indian (or the devil in his form) come up to her and say: Why are you crying? What's troubling you? If you need anything, don't ask this image but our ancient God, whose statue is behind this altarpiece; it is he who has always favoured us. It is impossible to say how cruel was the pain in the soul of this Religious when he heard these sacrilegious words; he informed the other Religious of what was happening; they came to remove the simulacrum of Satan and, summoning all the inhabitants to reproach them for their idolatry, reduced it to ashes which they scattered in the fields. The plague did not cease, however, nor did the sword of Divine Justice withdraw, because no doubt, even though their idol had been taken from them, they could not remove the false belief from their hearts and continued to worship it in secret. And in fact, since the simulacrum had been destroyed, the devil manifested himself in the form of a ferocious bull, as described in the Scriptures: this happened on a Holy Thursday, when the whole village was at the Divine Office; he entered the Church in the form of a black bull, roaring; but as he could not go beyond what the Supreme Lord his Creator permitted, he did no harm to the inhabitants or the Ministers of the altar, contenting himself by this provocation with a final startle, though it was no great comfort to his faithful.

These faults, already so abominable, were not the only ones to unleash Divine Justice against these miserable people: there were others which were to lead them to their ultimate perdition. In particular the fact that the young girls did not want to marry, but became pregnant, being unable to resist the power of the flesh; they then drowned their little children, without the water of holy baptism, so that their crimes would remain unknown. The Religious were deplored by these evils and continually denounced them, but they did not succeed in amending their conduct; abandoning discreet admonitions, noting that the sin was public, they had to denounce it publicly, telling them that they had no doubt that Divine Justice would take vengeance for such execrable crimes and that, since the young girls did not want to marry and drowned their newborns without baptizing them, preventing the propagation of the faith, God would annihilate and destroy them all, erasing them from the face of the earth, like other sodomites." […]

(Francisco Ximénez, Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala del orden de predicadores, libro IV, capítulo LXVIII)

Map of the convent of Copanaguastla (Olvera, Jorge. Copanaguastla, joya del plateresco en Chiapas. Ateneo, Tuxtla Gutiérrez. 1951)

The Convent of Copanaguastla is Abandoned

“The Religious continually showed them the cause of their ruin but there was to be no remedy; so the plague continued, finishing them off in such a way that twelve years later the convent was already alone in a desert, since there were no more than ten Indians left, more or less. They reported it to the Provincial who gathered his council in the Convent of N.P. St. Dominic of Guatemala and decided that the Convent of Copanaguastla would be transferred to Tzotzocoltenango, located in the same province of Llanos, to oversee from there the administration of the villages belonging to it. […]

“From this year 29 they began to move the Convent and transform the house of Tzotzocoltenango, which was a “visitation” church, into a Convent in good shape. [...]

“The house of Tzotzocoltenango immediately became a convent and a collegiate house, but although everything that related to the Convent was transferred to it, what belonged to the Church was not transferred to it: its ornaments remained there because there were still some inhabitants, very few, to whom the Holy Sacraments had to be administered. Then in 1645, when there were only eight Indians left, everything that related to the Church passed to the Convent of Tzotzocoltenango, including the bells, which remained there until 1659 when Sr. D. Fr. Mauro de Tovar had them taken to the Cathedral of Ciudad Real."

(Francisco Ximénez, Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala del orden de predicadores, libro IV, capítulo LXVIII)

The procession of the Virgen of Candelaria in Socoltenango

In the sixteenth century, the Camino Real followed a trade route south along the banks of the great Grijalva River, through the Central Depression of Chiapas from Chiapa de Corzo to Guatemala. In later years, in the beginning of the next century, with the establishment of the Spanish colonial city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, another road was added through the highlands from San Cristóbal south to Comitán, and became the principal one.

Numerous pueblo-de-indio missions were founded by the Dominicans at strategic points along the old colonial highway through the tierra caliente. Most of these were, for various reasons, abandoned - usually because of depopulation - and the missions left to the mercy of the elements.

Leaving Chiapa de Corzo, the old Royal Road kept along the Grijalva River, then continued through Acala, Ostuta, San Bartolomé de los Llanos (Venustiano Carranza), Copanaguastla and its mission of Soyatitán, Coapa, Escuintenango (colonia San Francisco), San José Coneta and Aquespala (colonia Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez), last mexican village of the Camino Real.

The Camino Real of Chiapas

All the villages in the region have disappeared

"As for the villages that have been destroyed in this province of Llanos, there are many and sometimes very large; and it is well known that all or most of them were in the lower part of the province; we can attribute the cause, in addition to Divine Justice which apparently pursued these wretches until they were exterminated, to the nature of the country which is on the whole marshy and it is well known that heat and humidity are conducive to corruption. We can also deduce this from the fact that the villages that are in higher and drier places, not only have not been destroyed or diminished, but on the contrary have developed greatly, as we see in S. Bartolomé Tzoyatitan, Comitan and others. All those who chose a low place have been destroyed; Among these, the first we can speak of is that of Sacuapa, which was formerly called Tecpacuapa, which in the Mexican language means House of the King of Cuapa, and which is usually called the great Cuapa because of the size of its population. In 1680, this village was dying out so quickly that not a single person remained alive. […]

"Likewise, the village of Teculuta, which was neighboring that of Copanaguastla, was completely annihilated and no memory of it remains: in the 1640s it had already completely disappeared as was the case of Copanaguastla. […]

"Tzitalá, a dependency of Tzotzocoltenango, is another village that was suppressed and disappeared in the 1665s. It suffered from the influence of this bad marshy terrain, as did Chalchitan, which also depended on Tzotzocoltenango and disappeared completely in 1698. And in the same years another one disappeared, Tzacualpa, also dependent on Tzotzocoltenango. All these villages were located in the surroundings of Tzotzocoltenango and on this marshy ground, and it is not surprising that they were abandoned as they happened."

The church of Soyatitan

"Someone may object and say: Why was no attempt made to remove the Indians to healthier places, seeing that the whole region is swampy? To which I reply that it is an impossible possibility to consider with them, much less to group them with other Indians, and they would rather die than move elsewhere, even though they would see their own misfortunes with their own eyes. [...] And if they are moved, as has sometimes happened, they die even faster. […] It was seen in Aquespala, the first village in the province of Llanos, where only 8 to 10 Indians remained and who had to be preserved because it was a stage of the Royal Road, in a very depopulated region: they brought there, by order of the Superior Government, 20 families from the village of Chiquimucelo and others chosen from the Zendales among the least guilty of the uprising, and all these families disappeared in six years without the desired goal being achieved. The same thing happened during the reduction of the Lacandon Indians, which we will discuss later: since they were numerous on their land and in their forest and it was feared that they would return to their idolatry, they were brought near the river of Aquespala where they were installed; they diminished so much that many were missing when they wanted to pass them to the domain of S. Ramon to benefit this depopulated region; Now there are not 50 families left there and no doubt, if they had remained there, they would all have disappeared.

"There are other villages in this province of Llanos that are in very bad condition for the same reason, such as Istapilla and Pinula in the Parish of Zoyatitlan. In this parish, the village of Sta. Lucia was eliminated and the few inhabitants that remained joined the village of Zoyatitlan. The villages of Huistatlan and Comalapa in the Parish of Chiquimucelo are also very diminished. Those of Coneta and Aquespala in the Parish of Escuintenango are in the same situation. Likewise, the village of Ostutla in the Parish of Acalá has been totally destroyed by an infinity of bats and mosquitoes, a very common plague in these hot and humid regions. Mosquitoes alone have killed many people, as in Egypt, and it is not extraordinary that they are accused of having produced such an effect: only people who have experienced this plague can know what It is."

(Francisco Ximénez, Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala del orden de predicadores, libro IV, capítulo LXV)

Mayan arqueological site El Lagartero (caymans' place), in the Central Depression of Chiapas

The valley of Copanaguastla as seen by Thomas Gage, circa 1620

"[...] and neighbouring unto it lyeth the great valley of Copanabastla, which is another Priory reaching towards Soconuzco. This valley glorieth in the great river, which hath its spring from the mountains called Cuchumatlanes, and runneth to Chiapa of the Indians, and from thence to Tabasco. It is also famous for the abundance of fish which the river yeeldeth, and the great store of Cattell which from thence minister food and provision both to the city of Chiapa, and to all the adjacent Towns.

"Though Chiapa the City, and Comitlan are standing upon the hils, be exceeding cold, yet this valley lying low is extraordinary hot, and from May to Michaelmas is subject to great stormes and tempests of thunder and lightning.

"The head Town where the Priory stands, is called Copanabastla, consisting of above eight hundred Indian inhabitants. But greater then this is Izquintenango at the end of the valley and at the foot of the mountains of Cuchumatlanes Southward. And yet bigger then this is the Town of St. Bartholomew Northward at the other end of the valley, which in length is about fourty miles, and ten or twelve only in breadth. All the rest of the Towns lie toward Soconuzco, and are yet hotter and more subject to thunder and lightning, as drawing nearer unto the South sea coast.

"Besides the abundance of Cattell, the chief commoditie of this valley consisteth in Cotton-wooll, whereof are made such store of mantles for the Indians wearing, that the Merchants far and near come for them. They exchange them to Soconuzco and Xuchutepeques for Cacao, whereby they are well stored of that drink. So that the inhabitants want neither fish (which they have from the river) nor flesh (for that the valley abounds with Cattell) nor clothing (for of that they spare to others) nor bread, though not of wheat, for there growes none ; but Indian Maiz they have plenty of ; and besides they are exceedingly stored with fowles and Turkeys, fruits, Hony, Tobacco and Sugar-canes.

"Neither is mony here nor in Chiapa so plentifull as in Mexico and Guaxaca ; and whereas there they reckon by Tostones which are but half Patacones.

"Though the river be many ways profitable to that valley, yet it is cause of many disasters to the inhabitants, who lose many times their children, and their Calves and Colts drawing neare to the water-side, where they are devoured by Caymanes, which are many and greedy of flesh, by reason of the many prizes they have got."

(Thomas GAGE, The English-American his Travail by Sea and Land: Or, a New Survey of the West Indias Containing a Journal of Three Thousand and Three Hundred Miles within the Mainland of America, 1648, T. 1, Cap. XV, Describing the country of CHIAPA, with the chiefest Towns and Commodities belonging unto it.)

War between narcos in the central valley of Chiapas, La Concordia, July 2024, the Sinaloa cartel murders 19 people

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Map of the village of Copanaguastla in the XVIth century

(Adams, Robert M., Changing Patterns of Territorial Organization in the Central Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. American Antiquity, 1961)

Turists in Copanaguastla

Francisco Ximénez

Born in november 28, 1666, Francisco Jiménez, often spelled Ximénez, was a Dominican priest who is known for his conservation of the indigenous Maya narrative known today as the "Popol Vuh". There is little biographical data about him. The year of his death is not certain, either in late 1729 or early 1730.

He enrolled in seminary in Spain and arrived in the New World in 1688 where he completed his novitiate. Father Ximénez's sacerdotal service began in 1691 in San Juan Sacatepéquez and San Pedro de las Huertas where he learned Cakchiquel. In December 1693, Ximénez began serving as the Doctrinero of San Pedro de las Huertas. He continued in this office for at least ten years during which time he was transferred to Santo Tomás Chichicastenango (also known as Chuilá) from 1701-1703. Father Ximénez was also the curate of Rabinal from 1704 through 1714 and further served as the Vicario and Predicador-General of the same district as early as 1705.

Ximénez's time in Santo Tomás Chichicastennago from 1701 to 1703 is probably where he transcribed and translated the "Popol Vuh". He included it in his commissioned Historia de la Provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala de la Orden de Predicadores, a rich and useful chronicle, written in 1721-1722, but not published until the 20^th century.

Father Ximénez has two other known writings, Primera parte de el tesoro de las lenguas Cakchiquel, Quiche y Tztuhil and Historia natural del Reino de Guatemala.

"At the present time there has been and still is a pestilence among the natives so widespread and so terrible that it is the greatest sorrow of the world, and in the province where I live, they say that more than 80,000 people have died, and at our hacienda we have lost more than 200 people, and among those some blacks, and for this the work of the hacienda has stopped and we are all trying to do what we can, giving orders to find people, but none can befound....God in his mercy has guarded the Spaniards, because until now only a few of them have died, but we are in great fear . . . and so everyone here is with great necessity, because the wealth of this land are these Indians, because, as there are so many, they provide service and work, and as so many of them have died, everything has stopped."

"Juan López de Soria a la condesa de Ribadavia," México: November 30, 1576, in Enrique Otte, Cartas Privadas de Emigrantes a Indias, 1540–1616 (México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1993)

The church of Socoltenango (Tzotzocoltenango in the text of Ximénez), on Palm Sunday

Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas, colonial aqueduct and church

Coneta, one more abandoned church (cover of the book by Sidney David Markman, Arquitectura y urbanización en el Chiapas colonial - in English, Architecture and urbanization in colonial Chiapas Mexico, The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1984)