San Lucas Tolimán is a
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
Sololá department
Sololá is a department in the west of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Sololá. Lake Atitlan is a key feature surrounded by a number of the municipalities.
Municipalities
# Concepción
# Nahualá
# Panajachel
# San Andrés Semetaba ...
of
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. The town of 17,000 people sits on the southeastern shore of
Lago de Atitlán __NOTOC__
Lago, which means "lake" in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Galician, may refer to:
Places
*Lago, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy
*Lago, Mexico, a municipality zone in the State of Mexico
*Lago District, a ''dis ...
. 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
Tolimán is a stratovolcano in Guatemala, on the southern shores of Lake Atitlán. The volcano has an elevation of 3,158 m (10,361 ft) and was formed near the southern margin of the Pleistocene Atitlán III caldera. The top of the volcano has ...
. 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
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, this was in charge of the franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
, who had convents and doctrines in the area covered by the modern departaments 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 ...
, , 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 both the seat of the namesake Department and municipality, in Guatemala.
The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It m ...
, Totonicapán, Suchitepéquez and Escuintla
Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4384 km², and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a minicipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small fair ...
. 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 ''Tz'ikin Jaay'', "birdhouse") is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. The town is situated on Lake Atitlán, which has an elevation of . The town s ...
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 grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
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 ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
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. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...
; thus, when archbishop 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 ...
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 reuni ...
.
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 ( la, Dioecesis Novae Ulmae) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western Minnesota, United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan A ...
in the city of New Ulm, Minnesota
New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the ...
, which is a suffragan see in the Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...
of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ( la, Archidiœcesis Paulopolitana et Minneapolitana) 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 Mission was founded in the 1960s by Monsignor
Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...
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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
from Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, 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). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
, 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 ''Tz'ikin Jaay'', "birdhouse") is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. The town is situated on Lake Atitlán, which has an elevation of . The town s ...
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 party, but he was not re-elected in the 2015 elections.[
]
Territory
San Lucas Tolimán has an area of 116 km²
Square kilometre ( International spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square kilometer (American spelling), symbol km2, is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area.
1 km2 is equa ...
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 (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Aw'').
Geographic location
Located 42 km south of department capital, Sololá, Sololá.
See also
*
*
* La Aurora International Airport
La Aurora International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional La Aurora, ) serves Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is located south of Guatemala City's center and from Antigua Guatemala. It is administered by the Dirección General de Aeronáut ...
* 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