Casa Na Bolom, the jungle explorers’ house museum in San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal de las Casas and the wider Chiapas region boast a rich heritage. That much is clear from any time spent here, but finding out about that heritage isn’t always the easiest task. Casa Na Bolom brings it to life, and it’s a must for anyone spending time in Chiapas.

Na Bolom is a small museum in a colonial house a few blocks from the centre of San Cristóbal, and it tells the story of the region through the lives of the two people who lived there: an archaeologist and a photographer who met in the Chiapas jungle. Here’s what to expect, what to look out for and how to visit.

The story of Casa Na Bolom

Archaeologist Frans Blom, who was born in Denmark, and the Swiss photographer and conservationist Gertrude “Trudy” Duby met in the Chiapas jungle in 1943. They married several years later and moved into an 1891 colonial-style house in San Cristóbal, the house that was to become Casa Na Bolom. The name plays on their surname and the Maya word “bolom”, meaning jaguar.

In the early 1950s, the pair founded an organisation to protect the cultural heritage of San Cristóbal, Chiapas and the Lacandón Maya, one of the most isolated indigenous groups in Mexico. Frans died in 1963. Trudy carried on their work from the house for another 30 years, photographing the Lacandón and campaigning to protect the rainforest they lived in, and when she died in 1993 she left the house to the organisation.

That community project, set up to spread knowledge and understanding of Maya culture, past and present, still thrives today in the house’s library, photographs and artefacts.

What to see at Casa Na Bolom

The house, full of the couple’s belongings, has a wonderfully homely feel, as though the Bloms had just stepped out. Your visit starts with a short video about their work and the heritage they set out to record, and from there you move through the house itself:

• The museum rooms: filled with Maya artefacts, textiles and the curiosities the Bloms collected on their expeditions.
• Trudy’s photographs: her black-and-white portraits of the Lacandón Maya line the walls, and the house holds an archive of tens of thousands of her images.
• The library: a collection of books on the Maya and Chiapas built up by the couple, still used by researchers.
• The chapel and the dining room: the house still has its own small chapel and the big dining room where the Bloms entertained their guests.

The garden

Behind the house, the garden is a jungly tangle of trees, medicinal plants and fruit and vegetables, with a pine-forest path and a traditionally built Maya hut showing how families live in the remote communities of Chiapas. It’s one of the quietest corners of San Cristóbal, and a lovely place to sit for a while after the museum.

Today, the organisation still focuses heavily on the community, so as well as the garden there’s a shop selling crafts and a restaurant on site. Ticket proceeds go back to the Lacandón community.

Staying at Na Bolom

The house has been taking in guests since the Bloms’ day, and it still runs as a guesthouse, with 16 rooms named after the communities of the Chiapas highlands. Most have a fireplace, which is very welcome on cold mountain nights. Have a look at rooms at Casa Na Bolom.

How to visit Casa Na Bolom

• Getting there: Na Bolom is about a 15-minute walk north of the main square, on Avenida Vicente Guerrero.
• How long to spend: allow an hour for the video and the house, and longer if you want to sit in the garden or have lunch.
• Combine it with: the Templo de Santo Domingo and its textile market, a short walk away, for a day of Maya culture and crafts.
• Go with a guide: for 10 pesos more, a guided visit fills in the stories behind the rooms.

Map

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