Chilapa

Chilapa lies in the mountain country of southern Mexico, between the Balsas basin and the Pacific coast. It was an Indigenous settlement before the arrival of the Spaniards and became an important centre of Augustinian missionary activity. From here the friars reached communities across the mountains, including towns toward Tlapa and the upper Balsas.

In 1533 the Augustinians Jerónimo de San Esteban and Agustín de la Coruña arrived at Chilapa. A convent was established in the following years, among the earliest houses of the order in the region. Chilapa later became the seat of a colonial jurisdiction encompassing neighbouring communities; around 1600 the district of Tlalcozautitlan was attached to it. The town’s position made it a focal point for the administration and evangelization of a wide and difficult terrain.