SURROUNDING AREAS, TOURING AND NOTABLE PLACES

Touring the Sumidero Canyon ? Departing from Tuxtla Gutierrez, take Highway 190 east for 17 km (10 mi) to Chiapa de Corzo. At this place you can visit important architectural monuments, such as the emblematic Fuente Mudejar, a 16^th-century construction built in the form of a chapel, and the Templo and Ex-Convento de San Domingo, a gothic renaissance-style edifice with three naves and murals from the colonial era. Here you also can visit the Regional Lacquer Museum (one of the town?s most representative crafts). After that you can hire a boat and set out on a tour of the Sumidero Canyon, one of the nation?s most impressive natural attractions. The tour lasts about two hours and includes tales about hidden treasures found at the bottom of the Grijalva River. Along the way you?ll see curious rock formations such as the canyon?s famous "Arbol de Navidad" (Christmas Tree). The 20-km (14-mi) tour ends at Presa Chicoasen, one of the country?s largest and most important dams. There electrical energy is generated for use in Mexico and Central America.