Guatemala - Tikal National Park (2)

GUATEMALA
Tikal, Templo II

Sent by Astrid from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

Guatemala - Guatemala City

The last of eight postcards sent by Oscar. It shows a city of Guatemala, a capital of Guatemala.

Guatemala City (in full, La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción; locally known as Guatemala or Guate), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America. It had a population of 1,075,000 as of 2009. It is also the capital city of the local Municipio de Guatemala, and Guatemala Department.

The city is located at 14°38′N 90°33′W, in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita in the south central part of the country Guatemala. (read further)

Guatemala - Lago de Atitlán (3)

The seventh of the eight postcards sent by Oscar. This one shows fishermen at the bay of Santiago Atitlán.

This is from Wikipedia : Santiago Atitlán is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. The town is situated on Lago de Atitlán, which has an elevation of 5,105 feet (1,556 m). The town sits on a bay of Lago Atitlan between two volcanos. Volcan San Pedro rises to 2,846 metres (9,340 ft) west of town; Volcan Toliman rises to 3,144 metres (10,310 ft) southeast of town. Volcan Atitlan, with a summit of 3,516 metres (11,540 ft), is south-southeast of town.[1] Santiago Atitlan is southwest of Panajachel across the lake. Major highways reach Lago Atitlan at San Lucas Toliman and Panajachel. A road links Santiago to San Lucas Tolliman. Boats connect the numerous communities around Lago Atitlan.

The majority of the residents are indigenous Mayans. It was the capital of the Tz'utujil people in pre-Columbian times and its name was Chuitinamit.

The Cofradías (religious brotherhoods), manage a parallel power and are the guardians of the modern and ancient religious practices, most notably the cult of Maximón to whom they offer liquor and tobacco in exchange of favors.

Santiago Atitlán is the home of the Cojol Ya Association Weaving Center and Museum, founded by the Cojol Ya Association of Mayan Women Weavers. The museum shows the history and process of backstrap loom weaving, and the evolution of the traditional costume of the Tzutujil, the indigenous people of Santiago Atitlán.

Santiago Atitlán was the site of considerable state-sponsored violence during the country's civil war. Some of the most notable incidents that occurred during the war include the assassination of Roman Catholic Priest Stanley Rother by right-wing death squads on 28 July, 1981 [2], and the massacre of 14 people (and wounding of 21 others) when the Guatemalan Army opened fire on a crowd of unarmed civilians on 2 December 1990.

Guatemala - Lago de Atitlán (2)

The sixth of eight postcards sent by Oscar. It shows a scene at Lago de Atitlán (or Lake Atitlán).

This is from Wikipedia : Lake Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán) is a large endorheic lake (one that does not flow to the sea) in the Guatemalan Highlands. While Atitlan is recognized to be the deepest lake in Central America, its bottom has not been completely sounded. Estimates of its maximum depth range up to 340 meters. The lake is shaped by deep escarpments which surround it and by three volcanos on its southern flank. Lake Atitlan is further characterized by towns and villages of the Maya people. Lake Atitlán is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west-northwest of Antigua. Lake Atitlán should not be confused with Lake Amatitlán. Lake Amatitlán is located about 65 kilometres (40 mi) southeast of Lake Atitlán and 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Antigua. Lake Atitlán is much larger than Lake Amatitlán.

The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."

The lake basin supports extensive coffee growth and a variety of farm crops, most notably corn. Other significant agricultural products include onions, beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, chile verde, strawberries, avocados and pitahaya fruit. The lake itself is rich in animal life which provides a significant food source for the largely indigenous population.

Gutemala - Tikal National Park (1)

The third of eight postcards sent by Oscar. It shows a Tila National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Together with Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, Maya is the most important reserve in the country, because of its archaeological and bio/ecological interest. Rivers, lakes, swamps and flooding savannas are important for biodiversity and for migratory birds. The reserve contains the largest area of tropical rainforest in Guatemala and Central America, with a wide range of unspoilt natural habitats. A large area of the reserve still comprises dense broadleaved forests with more than 300 species of commercially useful trees, such as cedar, mahogany, ramon(bread-nut tree), Araceae

(osier for furniture), chicle, pepper and others.

The soils of El Petén-Caribbean form a sedimentary basin with deposits from the Mesozoic and the Tertiary periods. They contain limestone and dolomites showing Cretaceous characteristics of karst formations with a broken relief. Soils are clayey and slightly permeable, with internal drainage, and easily compactable. Two types are found in the reserve: the Yucatan shelf to the north, formed by small hills, and the Lacandon mountain chain in the centre, consisting of rounded hills of calcareous origin, mountain chains, lagoons and alluvial plains. In the Lacandon area, soils are poor and there are abrupt cliffs. In the Tikal, Uaxactun and Dos Lagunas areas, the topography is undulating and soils are well drained. Laguna del Tigre and Laguna de Yaxha are the main lagoons found in the wetland area, where there are a large number of 'aguadas' or superficial swamps. The rivers in the reserve are part of the drainage basin of the Usumacinta River in the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the most extensive wetland systems in Central America.

Tikal protects some 22,100 ha of rainforest. The rich vegetation includes; species of savannah such as nance; high altitude forest with chicle, ramon , West Indian mahogany, cedar, palma de botan (palm) and palma de escobo , 'tinto' lowland forest. Other common tree species include cedar and the palm. Over 2,000 plant species were identified in the park area. Local people use forest species such as chicle, pepper, cedar, mahogany andramon and the use of leaves and flowers from Chamaedorea and Araceae spp. are used for ornamental purposes.

Fifty-four species of mammal occur, including mantled howler monkey, spider monkey, giant anteater, lesser anteater, dwarf anteater, three-toed sloth, nine-banded armadillo, squirrel, pocket gopher, raccoon, brown coati, kinkajou, tayra, paca, long-tailed weasel, hooded skunk, otter, puma, margay, ocelot, jaguarundi, jaguar, Baird's tapir which is limited by water availability, collared and white-lipped peccaries, white-tailed deer and red brocket deer. The avifauna comprises 333 species, representing 63 of the 74 families in Guatemala, and includes ocellated turkey, red macaw, jaribu stork and many others, including crested eagle.

Reptiles and amphibians include Morelet's crocodile, the Central American river turtle, nine families of amphibian and six genera of turtles, as well as 38 species of non-poisonous and poisonous snakes including coral snake, four species of Bothrops and two subspecies of rattlesnake Crotalus. A rich invertebrate fauna, especially arthropods, also occurs.

In the heart of this jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, lies one of the major sites of the Mayan civilization. The ceremonial centre contains superb temples and palaces, and public squares accessed by means of ramps. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside. The ruined city reflects the cultural evolution of Mayan society from hunter- gathering to farming, with an elaborate religious, artistic and scientific culture which finally collapsed in the late 9th century. At its height, AD 700-800, the city supported a population of 90,000 Mayan Indians. There are over 3,000 separate buildings dating from 600 BC to AD 900, including temples, residences, religious monuments decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions and tombs. Excavations have yielded remains of cotton, tobacco, beans, pumpkins, peppers and many fruits of pre-Columbian origin. Large areas are still to be excavated. (Source)

Guatemala - Lago de Atitlán (1)

The fourth of eight postcards sent by Oscar. It shows the Lake Atitlán at dawn.

Guatemala - Antigua Guatemala

The fifth of eight postcards sent by Oscar. This one shows Iglesia de la Merced in the city of Antigua in Guatemala.

Antigua Guatemala is an outstanding example of preserved colonial architecture and of cultural value. The religious, private and government buildings bear exceptional testimony to the Spanish colonial architecture in Antigua.

Built 1,500 m above sea level in an earthquake-prone region, Antigua, the capital of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, was founded in the early 16th century as Santiago de Guatemala. The conquerors chose this location as the previous capital had flooded in 1541 and the valley provided an adequate source of water and a fertile soil. Antigua Guatemala was the seat of Spanish colonial government for the Kingdom of Guatemala, which included Chiapas (southern Mexico), Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was the cultural, economic, religious, political and educational centre for the entire region until the capital was moved to present-day Guatemala City after the damaging earthquakes of 1773, but its principal monuments are still preserved as ruins. In the space of under three centuries the city, which was built on a grid pattern inspired by the Italian Renaissance, acquired a number of superb monuments.

Much of the architecture today dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and provides us with a colonial jewel in the Americas. The construction of the Palace of the Captains-General was begun on the original building in 1549 and completed in 1558, but the building has been repeatedly reconstructed following damaging earthquakes. In 1735 the Casa de la Moneda was inaugurated in this large complex, but most of the structure was destroyed in the 1773 quakes. On the east side of the Plaza de Armas stood the cathedral, inaugurated in 1680, after 11 years of construction. The cathedral was laid out with three aisles and salient transepts in a cruciform plan. Bays off the side aisles contained chapels. The present day church is a reconstruction of a small portion of the front of the cathedral. In the centre of the Plaza stands the Fountain of the Sirens, designed in 1739 by architect Miguel Porras. On the north side of the Plaza stands the Ayuntamiento or City Hall dating from 1743 which was little damaged by the 1773 earthquakes.

The Universidad de San Carlos was built around 1763, when the university, founded in 1676, was moved to this site. By the end of the 18th century the building required extensive renovations. The present portal was built in 1832 when the building was turned into a public school, the university having been moved to Guatemala City where it remains today.

Among the masterpiece of religious architecture, one of the most fascinating colonial sites in Antigua is Las Capuchinas (the Capuchin Convent) completed in 1736 under the direction of Diego de Porres, the chief architect of the city. Today the convent is partially intact and partially in ruins. The present church of La Merced was finished in 1767; the facade is one of the most beautiful in Antigua, featuring intricate and ornate patterns in white stucco on a yellow background. The church has short squat bell towers different from the churches built in seismically less active Mexico during the same epoch. The monastery attached to La Merced was totally destroyed by the Santa Marta quakes, and never rebuilt. Another very special ruin is that of the convent of Santa Clara founded in 1699 by the arrival of five nuns and one legate from Mexico. The convent's first church was completed in 1705, but destroyed in 1717. The remains standing today are those of a new church and convent started in 1723 and finished in 1734. The church of El Carmen, completed in 1728, is the third to occupy this site. The main facade of the church is ornate Baroque, and unique in Antigua with its triple pairs of columns set on podia projecting forward from the main wall in place of the niches and saints usually occurring here on Antigua's churches.

Religious and government buildings do not hold a monopoly on Spanish colonial architecture in Antigua, however: colonial architecture and modern construction in colonial style is found throughout Antigua in mansions and in humbler homes. (Source)

Guatemala - Vecinos de Todos Santos

The second of eight postcards sent by Oscar. It shows the people of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, in Huehuetenango.

This is from Wikipedia : Todos Santos Cuchumatán is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango. It is situated in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes at an elevation of 2,500 m (about 8,000 ft). The municipality covers an area of approximately 269 km2 and is formed by the town of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, 6 villages, and 69 smaller rural communities, called caserios, parajes, and cantones. The village of San Martin Cuchumatán is the second largest urbanized centre in the municipality of Todos Santos. San Martin is also the agricultural heart of the Cuchumateca valley which produces crops like potatoes, broccoli and large scale cultivation of coffee on the lower mountain slopes of the municipality.

The population of Todos Santos is predominantly indigenous, of Mayan descent, most of whom still speak the Mayan language of Mam. The town is one of few places in Guatemala where indigenous men still wear their traditional clothing, along with the women.

An annual festival is celebrated on October 31-November 2, and is centered on All Saint's Day on November 1 ("Todos Santos" translates to "all saints" in English). Festivities include traditional dances, marimba music and the famous horse races. The horse races are often the scene of mayhem and bloodshed due to the riders' penchant to drink alcohol for days leading up to the races even though the mayor banned the selling of hard alcohol in May of 2008.

Guatemala - San Mateo Ixtatán

The first of eight postcards sent by Oscar who lives in Guatemala City. This one shows a national costume of people in San Mateo Ixtatán, a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango.

This is from Wikipedia : San Mateo Ixtatán is situated at 2540m above sea level in the Cuchumatanes mountain range and covers 560 km² of terrain. It has a cold climate and is located in a cloud forest. The temperature fluctuates between 0.5°C and 20°C. The coldest months are from November to January and the warmest months are April and May. The town has a population of about 10,000, and is the municipal center for an additional 20,000 people living in the surrounding mountain villages. It has a weekly market on Thursday and Sunday. The annual town festival takes place from September 19 to September 21 honoring their patron Saint Matthew. The residents of San Mateo belong to the Chuj Maya ethnic group and speak the Mayan Chuj language, not to be confused with Chuj baths, or wood fired steam rooms that are common throughout the central and western highlands.