San Lucas Tolimán
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San Lucas Tolimán is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Sololá department __NOTOC__ Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It is located close to Lake Atitlan. The name is a Hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one sp ...
of
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. The town of 17,000 people sits on the southeastern shore of
Lago de Atitlán __NOTOC__ Lago, which means "lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie comple ...
. The population is 90–95% Highland Maya. There is a population of about the same size living in the surrounding villages. At altitude the town offers "eternal spring" with annual temperatures ranging from 50 to 80 degrees F. The dry season runs from November through June/July (called "summer" locally) and the rainy season runs the other six months ("winter"). The area is free of malaria due to its elevation. The area's elevation ranges from along the lake to at the summit of Volcán Tolimán. Volcán Tolimán is just west of town.


History


Spanish colony

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 ...
, San Lucas Tolimán was part of the Tecpán Atitlán "corregimiento" (English: Province) and when it turned into a major municipality in 1730, it became part of it as well; regarding the Catholic faith, this was in charge of the
franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
, who had convents and doctrines in the area covered by the modern departments of
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 ...
,
Chimaltenango Chimaltenango is a city in Guatemala with a population of 96,985 (2018 census).Citypopulation.de
Population of ...
,
Sololá __NOTOC__ Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It is located close to Lake Atitlan. The name is a Hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one sp ...
,
Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...
,
Totonicapán Totonicapán is a city in Guatemala. It serves as the capital of the department of Totonicapán and as the administrative seat for the surrounding municipality of Totonicapán. History In 1838 Totonicapán was declared an independent republic ...
, Suchitepéquez and
Escuintla Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4,384 km2, and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a municipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small f ...
. The "Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús" (English:"Province of the most Holy Name of Jesus"), as the Franciscan area was then called, reached up to 24 convents. In 1586, friar Alonso Ponce refers to San Lucas Tolimán as "little town". Under franciscan tenure, both in the
Santiago Atitlán Santiago Atitlán (, from Nahuatl ''atitlan'', "at the water", in Tz'utujil language, Tz'utujil ''Tz'ikin Jaay'', "birdhouse") is a Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality in the Sololá Department, Sololá department of Guatemala. Geography Th ...
convent town as in the native towns in its annexed doctrines —such as San Lucas Tolimán—, there was religious teaching for 6-year-old girls and older starting at 2:00 pm and for boys of the same age starting at sunset; the class lasted for 2 hours and consisted on memorizing the church teaching and prayers and to make some exercises with the
catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...
and it was run by a priest or by elder natives, called "fiscales". Adults attended Mass every Sunday and holiday and after mass, there were religious teachings in their own language.
Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
was a time of the year when the friars prepared the natives thoroughly, using their own language to accomplish their goals; every Friday of Lent there was a procession following the Rosary steps all the way to the Calvary temple. In 1754, as part of the borbon reforms, the Franciscans where forced to, give their doctrines to the
secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geograph ...
; thus, when archbishop
Pedro Cortés y Larraz Pedro Cortés y Larraz (Belchite, Zaragoza, 6 July 1712 - Zaragoza, 7 July 1787) was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala, Archbishop of Guatemala between 1767 and 1779 and bishop of Tortosa between 1780 and 1786. Biography Early life Grad ...
visited Panajachel in 1770, he described it as a member of the "Santiago Atitlan parish".


After independence from Spain

The town was elevated to municipality category on 2 September 1877, during the liberal regime of general
Justo Rufino Barrios Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (19 July 1835 – 2 April 1885) was a Guatemalan politician and military general who served as President of Guatemala from 1873 to his death in 1885. He was known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reun ...
.


20th century: San Lucas Mission

The area is well known as being the site of the San Lucas Tolimán Mission, overseen by the
Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm The Diocese of New Ulm () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western Minnesota in the United States. The Diocese of New Ulm is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and M ...
in the city of
New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm ( ) is a city and the county seat of Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River a ...
, which is a suffragan see in the
Ecclesiastical Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...
of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers the archdiocese from the cities of Minneapolis–S ...
. The Mission was founded in the 1960s by
Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...
Gregory Thomas Schaffer, who was responsible for starting up a series of education, health, and agriculture initiatives, including the granting of 3 acres of land each to 4,000 families, the launch of medical clinics, and the start of a fair-price coffee initiative. Katie Wallyn, a missionary for the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
from
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, has been helping the downtrodden their with her foundation L.E.A.S.T, helping the elderly with a loving manner. Monsignor Schaffer encouraged a group of his lay volunteers to found Agua del Pueblo (AdP). AdP is the oldest non governmental organization dedicated to water supply and sanitation in the world. Following the death of Monsignor Schaffer at the age of 78 in St. Paul of a rare form of
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
, a new group called the "Friends of San Lucas" has been appointed to continue the work in the area.


21st century

On 13 October 2015, the
Santiago Atitlán Santiago Atitlán (, from Nahuatl ''atitlan'', "at the water", in Tz'utujil language, Tz'utujil ''Tz'ikin Jaay'', "birdhouse") is a Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality in the Sololá Department, Sololá department of Guatemala. Geography Th ...
Courthouse issued a warrant for the arrest of the still mayor of San Lucas Tolimán, Oscar Pic Solís, for several charges; municipality secretary, Gaspar Cholotió Hernández, and treasurer, Alberto Cumes Cali were also arrested. Pic Solis had been mayor since 2007, with the
Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza The National Unity of Hope (, UNE) is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and defined itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party, but since transformed and is now described as a right-wing party. It is th ...
party, but he was not re-elected in the 2015 elections.


Culture


Music

The San Lucas Band were founded in San Lucas Tolimán in 1921, and recorded their album ''Music of Guatemala'' there in 1974.


Territory

San Lucas Tolimán has an area of 116 km2 and is divided as follows:


Climate

San Lucas Tolimán has tropical climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Aw'').


Geographic location

Located 42 km south of department capital, Sololá, Sololá.


See also

* * *
La Aurora International Airport La Aurora International Airport (, ) serves Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is located south of Guatemala City's center and from Antigua Guatemala. It is administered by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Guatemala), General Directora ...
*
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


San Lucas Mission
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Lucas Toliman Municipalities of the Sololá Department