San Juan Ostuncalco, is a town, with a population of 20,763 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & towns in Guatemala and 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

Quetzaltenango department Quetzaltenango is a department in the western highlands of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala.Rouanet et al 1992, p.14. The department is divided up into 24 municipalities. The inhabitants ...

of Guatemala. Beside Spanish, local people speak the

Mam language Mam or MAM may refer to: Places * An Mám or Maum, a settlement in Ireland * General Servando Canales International Airport in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (IATA Code: MAM) * Isle of Mam, a phantom island * Mam Tor, a hill near Castleton in t ...

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

Chimaltenango Chimaltenango is a city in Guatemala with a population of 96,985 (2018 census).Citypopulation.de
Population of ...

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 San Juan Ostuncalco doctrine. The 1765 Guatemala earthquake had its epicenter near Ostuncalco.

Traditions

The "Baile del Torito" is a local dance from San Juan Ostuncalco.

Climate

San Juan Ostuncalco municipal capital has temperate 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 ...

: ''Cwb'').

Geographic location

Ostuncalco municipality is surrounded by

Quetzaltenango Department Quetzaltenango is a department in the western highlands of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala.Rouanet et al 1992, p.14. The department is divided up into 24 municipalities. The inhabitants ...

municipalities, except on the West, where it borders

San Marcos Department San Marcos is a department in northwestern Guatemala, on the Pacific Ocean and along the western Guatemala-Mexico border. The department's capital is the city of San Marcos. History Colonial period The Spanish conquest of Guatemalan Highla ...

Notes and references

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Coord, 14, 52, N, 91, 37, W, display=title, region:GT_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of the Quetzaltenango Department