A Kaqchikel celebration in the middle of the City

By: Magda Aragón and Edgar Barrillas

Moros dance in San Raymundo.

The Department of Guatemala was created in 1825 and in it we find various populations of colonial origin. Its principality and the capital of the country is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, founded after the destruction of Santiago de Guatemala in 1773, known today as La Antigua. Chinautla has an origin more ancient, being established on the edge of the hills that protected the ancient capital of the poqomames at the time of the Spanish conquest. After the conscription of the native people, the Spanish relocated the majority of the population to a settlement called Santo Domingo de Mixco, the site of the present-day principality of Mixco. A small part of the population chose to live in the original poqomam territory and formed part of the present-day municipality of Chinautla. San Miguel Petapa and Villa Nueva have the same origin, although they were located in their present-day sites at the end of the colonial era. A flood caused by an intense rain in 1762 destroyed the first settlement of Petapa. Two populations arose as a result of this, which eventually formed these present-day municipalities. Other populations had their origin in the colonial ranches of the territory such as Palencia (ranch of the Dominicans) and San José del Golfo (ranch of the Society of Jesus), which provided a place of rest for travelers on the journey to the Gulf of Honduras. Fraijanes also formed due to the concentration of the populations of nearby plantations in green lands irrigated by the waters that flow to the Pacific. A special case is Amatitlán that was an important population in a region that cultivated sugar cane; and one reason there was the presence of Negro slaves. The settlements of Villa Nueva, San Miguel Petapa, Villa Canales, Palín and San Vicente Pacaya depended on Amatitlán. None of this region tolerated the authority of Nueva Guatemala and for this reason, in 1935, it became a municipality rather than a Department, with the exception of Palín and San Vicente Pacaya which formed part of Escuintla.

Like a noose in the road

By: Luis Villar Anleu

The Mixco and Santa Catarina Pinula geologic faults parallel this Department from north to south. They are huge and lengthy depressions that are associated with others. To the south, they are associated with the watershed of Lake Amatitlán and the gorge of the Michatoya River (known as the Palín Canyon). To the north, they are associated with the watershed of the Las Vacas River.

A unique detail of the Department is the overhang created by the Volcanic Chain. The noose is a large depression in the middle, extending nearly 60 kilometers, whose highest points are in the Virgen Valley, site of the city of Guatemala (only some 1,500 meters above sea level). The ecological constraints that have brought about such natural dispersions have derived spectacular results.

The principality of the Department, and the capital of the Republic, sits in the Valley that constrains the Volcanic Chain.

Within this same metropolitan zone, some sites worthy of visiting and enjoying are the Cayalá Ecological Park, Las Guacamayas Gorge, the Hipódromo del Norte, the Botanical Garden, La Aurora National Zoo and the IRTRA private zoo. On the outskirts of the city are the San Jorge Muxbal Park and School, of the Scout Association and the distinct scenic roadhouses along the highways.

Three classic destinations are Amatitlán Lake, Pacaya Volcano and the United Nations Park.
The northernmost lands of the Department, between Río Pixcayá to the west and Los Plátanos-Las Cañas streams to the east are warm and arid. To the extreme south it is also warm, but infinitely more humid. In both extremities, the average elevations border on 600 meters. The mountain zones situated to the east and west, with peaks of nearly 2000 meters, are always agreeably fresh.

Artisanry

By: Francisco Rodríquez Rouanet and Aracely Esquivel

Cotton fabrics

Traditional cotton fabrics are transformed into güipiles, skirts, tablecloths and other products. They are created in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, Chuarrancho, San Pedro Ayampuc, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Mixco, San Miguel Petapa and Amatitlán.

Ceramics

They produce jugs, tortilla baking dishes, jars and pots in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, Chinautla, Mixco, Palencia, San José Pinula and Villa Canales.

Metal products

They create traditional products of forged iron in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Mixco, Amatitlán and Villa Canales. Traditional objects of tin such as candlesticks, lanterns and candelabras are created in San José del Golfo, Mixco, Villa Canales and Amatitlán. Silver art pieces like bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings are found in San Juan Sacatepéquez.

Candle making

They create various types of candles in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, San Pedro Ayampuc, Chinautla, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Mixco, Villa Nueva, Amatitlán, Villa Canales, San José Pinula and Palencia.

Construction materials

Clay tiles are elaborated in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, Chuarrancho, San Pedro Ayampuc, San José del Golfo, Mixco, Palencia, Villa Canales, Fraijanes and San José Pinula. Clay bricks are made in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Ayampuc, Palencia, Amatitlán, Villa Canales, Fraijanes, San José Pinula and Santa Catarina Pinula.

Fireworks

A variety of pyrotechnics, used in family, religious, popular and civic celebrations, are fabricated in the municipalities of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo, Mixco, Villa Nueva, Amatitlán, Villa Canales and Fraijanes.

Traditions

By: Carlos René García Escobar

The religious system is much more complicated in this Department due to the fact that the capital of the country is located here. The population is large and is influenced by the Catholic Church, other religious denominations, and the abundant and penetrating radio and television media.
Outside the city the Department is divided into municipalities with large ladino and/or mestizo populations and into municipalities with large Mayan populations. This is why the cofradías, of municipalities like San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Mixco and Chinautla, although well structured, compete in religious presence with the hermandades that abound in all of the Department. In the municipalities in the east of the Department such as San José Pinula, Palencia, San José del Golfo and Fraijanes it is said sarabands take place in improvised salons where a marimba continuously plays dance music. In these municipalities, owing to their immediate proximity to the social customs of the Guatemalan east, one very frequently finds rodeos, cockfights, ribbon races and games of chance.

Dances

The Department is prodigious in the quantity of traditional dance. The dance influences come from the destroyed city of Santiago, from Chimaltenango and from Baja Verapaz.