CultureSan Agustin ChurchSan Cristobal de las Casas

Around 1670, a piece of land was donated to the Society of Jesus, in order to start the San Cristobal College of Arts and Crafts.

Today, the college or the former convent Templo de la Compañia no longer exists, and what was formally the church, is now used as the auditorium for the Law School.

Its unique frontal facade emphasizes the use of mortar plaques over what were formerly towers. The side facade is unparalleled by any other work of  Central American colonial art.

Its conception is an anachronistic mix of elements ranging from the late Gothic era to the Renaissance. Several of the baroque altarpieces that it had can still be admired at the San Cristobal Cathedral, as well as in the San Augustin Temple, and the nearby village of Teopisca.