Newsletter STCASA Guatemala No 8

Guatemala

NEWSLETTER

No.08

August - September 2014 Servicios turisticos Centro America S.A.

The Cuchumatanes Huehuetenango, Guatemala Photo by Octavio Lopez TOURISM ww w. adrenali

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3 Days Trek

between Todos Santos Cuchumatán and Nebaj Rural tourism has turned into an economic alternative for some families who have discovered that their location in a natural environment provides them with advantages that others can not experience when foreigners visit.

In contrast with community tourism, where an entire community reinvests profits from tourism for the benefit of its population, rural tourism has benefited a few individuals and at most families that are conveniently located along the route of tourist spots. Such is the case of families that live along the picturesque path from the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango leading to Nebaj, Quiche.

Why makes these families recipients of tourist visits?

Some families are on the path of one of the 3-day walks in the

highlands of Guatemala with one of them starting in the north-west region of Guatemala.

Even though the meeting point is found in Todos Santos, the trek itself starts from the community known as “La Capellania.”

This walk, known as “Trek Todos Santos to Nebaj,” has been made famous for the sights that can be seen over the 3-day journey to Nebaj.

In addition to sharing with host families, it is also possible to see a lot of the volcanic mountain range of Pacific Guatemala.

Plus during the rainy season the stony grounds become muddy which makes the trek a real adventure.

From November to March, the coldest period in the highlands of Guatemala, warm clothing is recommended as temperatures sometimes fall below zero in the evening and early-morning.

Also, good shoes will help make the adventure more enjoyable since the terrain is uneven due to the characteristically rocky soil of highland Huehuetenango.

Even though in the past some foreign organizations attempted to involve all of the communities along the route, only some families have continued offering services like food and lodging.

Though basic, the services are comfortable and welcoming and eliminate the need for tourists to fill their large travel backpacks with food, water, and sleeping equipment since basic necessities can be purchased in “tiendas” along the path.

We invite you to go on this trek and learn about Guatemala firsthand.

NEBAJ, QUICHE

Market Day Photo by John Meckley

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Ciudad vieja Is really the first settlement of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros?

IXIMCHE

TECPAN, CHIMALTENANGO By:José Andrés Reynawork.

Based on archaeological research Janos Szésky (1953) and Miguel Valencia (1980)

to share here is true, but we must look at all of the years of tasks that several archaeologists have been given in order to demonstrate that it is.

As is common in Guatemala and all Latin American countries, a large collection of our history has been based on oral tradition passed down through generations.

Let’s start where we must: At the beginning. It’s common knowledge that the Spanish conquest (or Spanish invasion as is fashionable to call it) the Maya Kakchiquel city of Iximche was the first to fall under their rule.

Often, this oral tradition is a bit far from reality, but like the saying goes, “A lie repeated a thousand times eventually becomes true.” It’s not that I’m fully stating that what I’m going

Here, the great conqueror Don Pedro de Alvarado and his entourage, which was made up of an alliance between Spaniards, Tzutujiles, and

Tlaxcaltecas(from Mexico), wanted to establish the first capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala.

They failed and fell victim to the constant attacks that the entitled Kakchiquel committed against them in order to reclaim their city. So, Don Pedro felt the need to leave the city but not before having a childish tantrum of if it’s not mine, it’s not anyone’s and we already know that the city burned down.

After leaving Iximche, Don Pedro and his friends continued wandering

around until they stumbled upon the beautiful valley of Almolonga.

And as it’s been said, Miguel Valencia found that the spatial and urban planning of a new population in the newly conquered Spanish America met precise standards regarding solar dimensions, blocks, and spaces for the distribution and location of the most important buildings (town hall or city hall, royal houses, and churches ).

It also met the criteria for military terrain and environmental needs (easily defendable, flat surfaces, with good

ALMOLONGA VALLEY SACATEPÉQUEZ, GUATEMALA

air circulation, away from wetlands, abundant water supply) which not only guaranteed a common standard but also ensured the best possibilities of development of centers for the colonization and settlement of new territories.

city of Santiago de los Caballeros in Guatemala was based in Almolonga Valley but not exactly where we believe it was. What we’ve been told is that it was in the town of CIudad Vieja, but archeologists Scésky and Valencia say it was not.

It also allowed for the best chance of administration and exploitation within the complex model of colonial domination, according to the Royal Ordinance for Municipalities Cologne.

The two conducted archaeological studies in Ciudad Vieja and determined, after studying the Cathedral and the Chapel commonly known as Capilla de Doña Beatriz de la Cueva (the first wife and owner of the fortnights of the Conqueror), that neither of the studies of the two structures matched the

But here is where the confusion begins, because what is known is that the first

supposed date of founding of the first city of Santiago de los Caballeros, which took place around 1540.

They concluded that Ciudad Vieja itself was part of the periphery of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros but not at the center of it, as is jealously reported by their neighbors who were there when it was settled by the Tlaxcaltecas, the ancestors of the now residents of the town of Ciudad Vieja.

In fact, when neighbors of Ciudad Vieja enter into a heated discussion with a resident of the nearby villages, they

are called Mexicans, something that must’ve been told from generation to generation in order to make it stick as a nickname.

Yet, if the evidence leads to the conclusion that they weren’t in Ciudad Vieja when they found the remains of the first capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala, where were they? It seems like the answer is found 2 km to the east of a beautiful and picturesque village called San Miguel Escobar. In the 1950s when Mr. Scésky was conducting his excavations he stayed in this town for a

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CIUDAD VIEJA SACATEPÉQUEZ, GUATEMALA

special attraction that has also been part of the oral tradition of Guatemalan.

village, while only one passes through the western edge of Ciudad Vieja.

rectangular bell tower attached to a type of steeple on South Street.

Remember that the first city of Santiago de los Caballeros was destroyed on a tragic night between the 10th and 11th of September in 1541 by a strong current of water at the base of Agua volcano.

Additionally, the excavations were done in the center of the same town as the village and the church illustrating that it is much more probable that base of certain elements are Baroque (alcoves for distributed images on two streets, tops with recesses, two bodies with twisted columns at the top), it also has some features that could be attributed to earlier recollections, especially the

They also showed that the excavations matched with certain probabilities of success with eight numbered colonial structures, such as Esperanza I to III and Santa Inés I to V.

In San Miguel Escobar there are five glens or ravines at the foot of the volcano that lead directly towards the

Unfortunately due to the little support and the culture of the same people that turned the excavation sites into dumps, the tests couldn’t be completed in an

effective way.

I wish that the excavations were resumed to determine if it was really the first capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. My intention, as I’m sure was the same for the excavationists, is not to hurt the feelings of anyone in Ciudad Vieja, but to provide some scientific certainty to common stories that are at the base of our history.