Chiantla () is a town and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
Guatemalan
department of
Huehuetenango
Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American High ...
. The municipality is situated at 2,000 metres above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
and covers an area of 521 km
2. The annual festival is on January 28.
History
Mercedarian doctrine
After the
Spanish conquest of Guatemala
In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this te ...
in the 1520s, the "Presentación de Guatemala" Mercedarian province was formed in 1565; originally, the
order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...
had gotten from bishop
Francisco Marroquín
Francisco Marroquín (1499 – April 18, 1563) was the first bishop of Guatemala, ''(in Latin)'' translator of Central American languages and provisional Governor of Guatemala.
Biography
Marroquín was born near Santander, Spain. He studied phil ...
several doctrines in the
Sacatepéquez
Sacatepéquez () was a city in Guatemala from November 21, 1542 until July 29, 1773 when it was destroyed by the Santa Marta earthquake. Sacatepéquez means ''grasshill'' and gave its name to the Sacatepéquez Department.
Sacatepéquez and Antig ...
and
valleys, close to the capital
Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, but they traded those with the
Order of Preachers
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
friars in exchange for the doctrines those had in the
Sierra de los Cuchumatanes
The Sierra de los Cuchumatanes is the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America. Its elevations range from to over , and it covers a total area of .Lovell 2005:11 With an area of situated above , it is also the most extensive hig ...
area. During the first part of the 17th century they also had doctrine in four town close to the city of Santiago, which eventually became city neighborhoods: Espíritu Santo, Santiago, San Jerónimo and San Anton —which was the capital of the Mercedarians, where they had their convent and where their
comendador lived.
According to bishop Juan de las Cabezas memoir in 1613 and the bishop
Pedro Cortés y Larraz
Pedro Cortés y Larraz (Belchite, Zaragoza, 6 July 1712 - Zaragoza, 7 July 1787) was Archbishop of Guatemala between 1767 and 1779 and bishop of Tortosa between 1780 and 1786.
Biography
Early life
Graduated with a doctorate in Spain when he w ...
parish visit minutes from 1770, the Mercedarians came to have nine doctrines, and numerous annexes, which were:
Santa Ana de Malacatán, Concepción de Huehuetenango,
San Pedro de Solomá,
Nuestra Señora de la Purificación de Jacaltenango, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Chiantla,
San Andrés de Cuilco,
Santiago de Tejutla,
San Pedro de Sacatepéquez, and
San Juan de Ostuncalco.
However, in 1754, due to the
borbon reforms implemented by the Spanish kings, the Mercedarins -and the rest of the
regular clergy for that matter-, had to transfer their doctrines to the
secular clergy, thus losing their Chiantla convent and annexed doctrines.
Climate
At an altitude of approximately 2000m, Chiantla has a climate similar to that of Antigua, though with the extra 600m above sea level it is often a little chillier in the night. The rainy season is from May to October, with mornings starting out warm and humid, followed by heavy rains - and even hail - in the afternoons, which usually dissipate by evening.
Population
The inhabitants of the city are mostly
ladino, it is common to hear the languages of Popti, Canjobal, Chuj, and Mam being spoken by street venders, shoppers and residents.
Economy
Mining
Lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
production was noted in the area in 1850.
Modern exploration of the Chiantla mining district by
Firestone Ventures, a Canadian firm headquartered in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, has produced a promising prospect for a lead, zinc, silver open pit mine at its Torlon Hill Zinc-Lead-Silver Project west of Chiantla at the site of the Cinco Hermanos workings.
Photos of the Torlon HIll Zinc project
Climate
Chiantla has a
subtropical highland climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cwb'').
Geographic location
Chiantla is almost completely surrounded by
Huehuetenango Department
Huehuetenango is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. It is situated in the western highlands and shares borders with the Mexican state of Chiapas in the north and west; with El Quiché in the east, with Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango and San ...
municipalities.
[ The city of Chiantla is located within the Northwest sector of the department of Huehuetenango. It sits in the mountainside above the city of Huehuetenango, approximately 2 hours from the Mexican border.
]
See also
*
*
* List of places in Guatemala
This is a list of places in Guatemala.
List of most populous cities in Guatemala
Population data up to number 30 is based on the 2018 census.
Ancient cities and important ruins
* Cancuén
* Dos Pilas
* El Baul
* Iximche
* Kami ...
Notes and references
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Site of Chiantla Spanish
Site of Education Chiantla, Génesis
Map showing relationship of Chiantla to the
Pan American Highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
and the Torlon Hill zinc project
{{Coord, 15, 21, N, 91, 27, W, display=title, region:GT_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Municipalities of the Huehuetenango Department