Santo Tomás de Castilla, officially known as Mátías de Gálvez though it popularly retains its former name, is a

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

in the

Izabal Department Izabal () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the Garifuna people. Izabal is bordered to the north by Belize, to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras, to the east by Honduras, and by th ...

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 ...

. It lies at Amatique Bay off the Gulf of Honduras and is administratively a part of Puerto Barrios.

Belgian colony

In the 1840s Santo Tomás was settled by

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in a colonial enterprise after the European nation supported

Rafael Carrera José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. He ruled during the establishment of ne ...

in his drive for independence of the country."Santo Tomas de Castilla
''Encyclopaedia Britannica The territory was authorized in 1843 "in perpetuity" by the Guatemalan Parliament to be administered by the ''Compagnie belge de colonisation'', a private Belgian company under the protection of King Leopold I of Belgium. It replaced the failed British Eastern Coast of Central America Commercial and Agricultural Company."New Physical, Political, Industrial and Commercial Map of Central America and the Antilles"
Library of Congress, World Digital Library, accessed 27 May 2013 Many of the Belgians who settled there died of yellow fever and

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, which were

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the region. Most were buried in a Belgian cemetery near Santa Tomás. In 1854, the Belgian company withdrew because of financial losses.

After 1960

In the early 1960s the port, which has been officially renamed Matías de Gálvez in 1958, became the primary base for the new Guatemalan Navy. Admiral Manuel Sosa Avila, of the Navy of Guatemala, was the first port commander for the newly founded Navy, which consisted of a frigate and two fast attack boats. The fast attack boats were donated to Guatemala by the United States. The frigate was purchased by the government of Guatemala in Sweden. The purchase was conducted by Ian Moon, an Irishman who was the son-in-law of the then-President of Guatemala Idigoras Fuentes. The frigate was delivered to Guatemala by a Swedish crew. Eventually, the frigate was scuttled by the Guatemalan Navy near Puerto Barrios, in shallow water, where the ship's structure can still be seen there today by ships passing by. The frigate was scuttled by Francisco Sigui Lira, an officer of the Guatemalan Navy. A highway connects the port with Guatemala City, and it is also served by a railroad, which was originally built by the Banana Fruit Company. Due to lack of funds for maintenance, Guatemala did not operate the railroad for many years. It briefly operated again in 2006 with American financing, but due to conflicts with its administration, the American capital investors abandoned the project.

Seaport

The

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

of the city was built in 1976, after an earthquake had severely damaged the port of Puerto Barrios. Today it is among the busiest in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and currently expanding. The port is located next to a free trade zone, the Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomás de Castilla, called Zolic. The port currently employs 2,100 workers. In 2004, 4.56 million tons of trading goods went through the port from 1,372 ships.

Cruise industry

In 2004, a cruise ship terminal was completed and Santo Tomás de Castilla started receiving cruise ships. The cruise ship terminal has been a tremendous boost for the Guatemalan

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Four cruise ships a month, carrying 1,500 passengers each, make a stop here. Cruise ship passengers visit Guatemala chiefly for its Mayan culture, which sites are located throughout the country. Puerto Barrios Airport is being refurbished in order to handle small planes to transport ship passengers for day trips to

Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...

or other places in Guatemala. Nearby attractions include Rio Dulce, Lake Izabal, the towns of Puerto Barrios, Livingston and San Felipe Castle, and the

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

n ruins of Quirigua.

References

Bibliography

External links

official website of the port

Seaport Commission of Guatemala

official website of the Zolic free trade zone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santo Tomas de Castilla Populated places in the Izabal Department Ports and harbours of Guatemala Port settlements in Central America Port cities in the Caribbean Former Belgian colonies