Chimalapan

Chimalapa lies in the forested mountains of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a region long inhabited by Zoque-speaking communities. The ruins of Chimalapilla near Santa María Chimalapa suggest an earlier political centre in this territory. Routes crossed the isthmus between the Mexican highlands and the tropical lands of Soconusco. Spanish conquest placed the region within the colonial Marquesado del Valle, but Zoque communities retained their connection to the forests and mountains.