Museo de la Laca and the Santo Domingo monastery, Lacquerware museum in Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico

The Museo de la Laca and Santo Domingo monastery displays around 450 lacquered objects within a restored colonial building featuring two interior courtyards and a 16th century church. The structure preserves the original architecture and spatial arrangement of this religious complex, which now serves as a cultural center.

The monastery and church were built in the second half of the 16th century on a small hill above the Grijalva River, attributed to Pedro de Barrientos and Juan Alonso. The monastery was secularized during the Reform War while the church kept its function. SEDUE restored it between 1984 and 1987, and a later restoration from 1999 to 2002 made it a cultural center housing the Museo de la Laca.

The lacquerware here has two roots: a pre-Hispanic tradition called maque, evidenced in Chiapas's La Garrafa Cave, and a Spanish version that reached Europe from Asia. After the Conquest, floral and bird motifs dominated, later influenced by goods arriving on the Manila Galleon. Pieces are painted with a mixture of chia and chicalote seed oils and wax from the female Coccus axin insect, tinted with mineral, vegetable and animal dyes.

The complex sits on a small hill above the Grijalva River, with the former monastery behind the large church; its halls surround two main patios fronted by 16th- and 17th-century corridors. Guided tours are offered, and workshops cover lacquer, Parachico masks, woodcraft, pottery and embroidery. The Matías de Córdoba Auditorium seats eighty people and hosts a film club on Saturdays.

The museum is Mexico's only facility dedicated solely to lacquerware, with works from Pátzcuaro, Quiroga, Uruapan, and Olinalá. These four Mexican craft towns are known for their distinct styles and techniques, which visitors can see displayed side by side.