Zaragoza () is a town, with a population of 11,176 (2018 census), and 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
Chimaltenango department
Chimaltenango is a department of Guatemala. The capital is Chimaltenango.
Geography
Located to the east are Guatemala Department, home to Guatemala City, and Sacatepéquez Department, while also bordered by Quiché Department and Baja Verap ...
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 ...
.
History
One of the earliest references to the town during the Spanish Colony can be found in ''Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala'' (English:''Brief account of Guatemala City history'') who in 1818 wrote Domingo Juarros. He said that the Spanish villa belong to Patzicía's "curato" in the mayor municipality of Chimaltenango.
After the independence of Central America in 1821, the Constitution of the State of Guatemala from 11 October 1825, specified the town in the territory, and the villa appeared in Circuit #8 (Sacatepéquez), within
and then, by the Constitutional Assembly of 1839, the town was assigned to Chimaltenango Department. Finally, by an executive action of 27 January 1892, the town was elevated to municipality, and its name was changed to "Zaragoza" because most of the Spanish people who lived there was from
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, Spain.
In 1895 British archeologist
Alfred Percival Maudslay
Alfred Percival Maudslay (18 March 1850 – 22 January 1931) was a British colonial administrator and archaeologist. He pioneered the careful archaeological study of the Maya ruins and the results of his field work were presented in ''Biolog ...
and his wife, Anne Cary Maudslay, visited Zaragoza on their way from
Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the Guatemalan Highlands, central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque- ...
to
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 ...
. Anne Maudslay told her adventure in the book ''A glimpse at Guatemala'', from the
Victorian Era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
perspective: "After riding a mile or two along a road bordered by cottages bosomed in fruit trees we rose to a bleak tableland. It was one of the very few days of unpleasant weather which we experience during the whole of our journey; a fierce wind raised clouds of dust and rustled through the ugly dry ''rastrojos'', or stubbles of Indian corn, which covered the plain. We passed through the little Indian town of Zaragoza, chiefly noted for the manufacture of ''aparejos'', the native pack-saddles. I have been told that the Indians here have such a liking for dried alligator meat as a Lenten fare that the vendors of the highly-perfumed delicacy have to be locked up in the ''carcel'' (English: ''Jail'' for protection and sell the meat through the prison bars. The streets were full of gaily-dressed people assembled for a fiesta, and dancing was going on in a shed, to a monotonous sound of a
marimba
The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...
. We were not tempted to loiter for long, and rode on again over the dull plan to uninteresting town of
."
Administrative division
Tourism and recreation
The following is the list of the main celebrations in the municipality:
Climate
Zaragoza has a
subtropical highland climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...
(
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 ...
: ''Cwb'').
Winds speed average is 13,5
km/
h between January and June, and of 25 km/h between July and December, while the daily sun light average is 6,6
h.
Geographic location
Located in the middle of
Chimaltenango Department
Chimaltenango is a department of Guatemala. The capital is Chimaltenango.
Geography
Located to the east are Guatemala Department, home to Guatemala City, and Sacatepéquez Department, while also bordered by Quiché Department and Baja Verap ...
with an area of 49.1
km2. It is completely surrounded by Chimaltenango municipalities:
Sister cities
*
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, Spain
[
]
See also
*
*
Notes and references
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
* (in Spanish)
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the Chimaltenango Department