Zunil () 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

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 with a surface area of .Zunil at Inforpressca
The town of Zunil is located from the city of

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 ...

, on the bank of the

Salamá River The Salamá River is a river in Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of streams running down the slopes of the Sierra de las Minas and Sierra de Chuacús and flows in a north-westerly direction through the town of Salamá until it joins the ...

.Cattelan 2004, p.36. Zunil has an altitude of approximately

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. The population of the municipality is about 14,000, 100% indigenous. The inhabitants speak

K'iche' K'iche', K'ichee', or Quiché may refer to: * K'iche' people of Guatemala, a subgroup of the Maya *K'iche' language, a Maya language spoken by the K'iche' people **Classical K'iche' language, the 16th century form of the K'iche' language *Kʼicheʼ ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. There are thermal baths with volcanic water around the town, for example Fuentes Georginas and Almolonga.

Religion

Zunil possesses active worship of ''San Simón'' (also known as

Maximón Maximón (), also called San Simón, is a Mayan deity and folk saint represented in various forms by the Maya peoples of several towns in the Guatemalan Highlands. Oral tradition of his creation and purpose in these communities is complex, diverse ...

), a life-sized mannequin representing a

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

god, sitting in a wooden throne, which is moved to a different house every year, and many people visit and leave gifts at his shrine.

Namesakes

A crater on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, which may be the source of Mars meteorites, is named after the village..

Gallery

File:indoor market zunil guatemala.JPG, Indoor market File:Zunil_church.JPG, Church in Zunil File:Zunil panorama.JPG, Panorama of Zunil Image:Zunil buses.JPG, Buses in Zunil

Notes

References

External links

*
Zunil at Inforpressca
Municipalities of the Quetzaltenango Department {{Guatemala-geo-stub