Santiago Lafuente

Guatemala - 05-Jan-24 -

I visited Santo Tomás Chichicastenango for the first time on market day in the summer of 2021 and recently in winter of 2023 on a regular day. It is from there that many of the finest and oldest crafts and embroideries come from, many of which are later sold in the towns of Lake Atitlán and in Antigua Guatemala. This little town also stands out for being the largest indigenous market in America where the 86 cantons (districts) of the area meet to trade every Thursday and Saturday, many of these made up of families of different Mayan ethnic groups.

Chichicastenango or "Chichi" is a Mayan town planned as a colonial reduction, where its churches, convent, plaza, sacred sites, and cemetery uphold a blend of Christian and Maya religious practices. The colonial plaza, reminiscent of pre-Hispanic design, features elevated platforms where Santo Tomás and El Calvario churches face each other, symbolizing a dialogue between Catholicism and indigenous beliefs.

Traditional daily life in the town revolves around sacred sites, traditional arts, rituals, and the vibrant Maya market. Inside the churches, preserved colonial altarpieces and imagery serve as focal points for Maya cofradías and daily ceremonies. Santo Tomás Chuwilá, once under Franciscan administration, holds historical significance as the site where Fray Francisco Ximénez discovered the only known K'iche' copy of the Popol Vuh, later moved to Santiago de Guatemala.

The cemetery's vibrant colors reflect Maya beliefs about death and complement the natural landscape. Nearby, Pascual Abaj, atop a hill south of the town, remains a revered sacred site. The town also features an archaeological museum displaying artifacts from the region, alongside the seat of the indigenous municipality and a republican-era theater. The plaza and churches have maintained their relative preservation amidst the evolving architectural landscape of the town. However, there is an urgent need for construction regulations to protect the colonial heritage from modern development, which could threaten its integrity.

Focusing on these elements such as the churches, plaza, sacred sites, and their role in religious syncretism could enhance Chichicastenango's chance of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Such recognition would better integrate with other churches along the National Identity Route TWHS and the Franciscan and Dominican Evangelization Routes TWHS, offering deeper insights into the country's diverse cultural heritage, reframed as "Santuarios del Sincretismo Religioso".

Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 18-Feb-20 -

Highly popular, highly recommended, highly religious (bleh) but I didn't like it very much, what went wrong?

For one when you go you need to go on a market day, Thursday and Sunday. On any other day you will find this place on par with any generic town in Guatemala. The location is nice and the drive was good but most viewpoints where towards the lake and volcanoes.

Alright so market day is interesting to stroll through the markets but isn't that similar to the market in Antigua? Yes, for sure, so I don't see how it was worth it coming for the market day, maybe it used to be more interesting but vendors selling cloths and trinkets are not special at all. The churches were closed and don't strike me as unique.

Dennis Nicklaus

11-Jun-19 -

Chichicastenango was a fascinating small city to visit. You don't come for nature's beauty, ancient stone artifacts, or grand palaces, but for its unique living culture.  The people and their culture descend from the ancient Maya, and  that heritage still infuses everyday life.  The evolution of culture is on evident display, a mix of the modern and the ancestral. Sometimes in easily visible things like the traditional clothing, sometimes in many more subtle ways, like the cartoonish mask of a colonial Spaniard used in a local folk dance. The ancient religious practices mix unabashedly with Catholicism.  The pretty colonial church on the plaza mayor had the most incense-saturated atmosphere I have ever been in. We were invited to accompany a local shaman into the woods to observe some religious ritual, an experience that was amazing at the time (and in hindsight, maybe a little scary).   The central open-air market is an amazing place to check out the local foodstuffs, as well as notice the colorful fabrics and their weave patterns representing individual villages.

Our hotel was also a unique experience. No locks on the door, but we were assigned one man who was responsible for our room and making sure it was secured. No central heat -- if the cool mountain air was too cold, you had your guy build a fire in the fireplace.

I think Chichi definitely has OUV, but it is mostly of the intangible type that is harder to preserve.

We visited Chichi in 1988, during a relatively peaceful pause from the political unrest and violence that had wracked Guatemala years prior. So I must apologize if my review is a tad out-of-date, but it was such an unforgettable place!