Santa Cruz del Quiché

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Santa Cruz del Quiché
Coordinates: 15 ° 2 ′  N , 91 ° 9 ′  W
Map: Guatemala
marker
Santa Cruz del Quiché​
Santa Cruz del Quiché on the map of Guatemala
Basic data
Country Guatemala
Department El Quiché
City foundation 1539
Residents 35,000  (2009)
Detailed data
surface 311 km 2
Population density 113 inhabitants / km 2
height 2021  m
Time zone UTC −6
Santa Cruz del Quiché - Cathedral and Tower of the Governor's Palace
Santa Cruz del Quiché - Cathedral and Tower of the Governor's Palace

Santa Cruz del Quiché is a city in Guatemala with a population of around 35,000 ; it is the administrative seat of the department of El Quiché and of the large municipality ( Municipio ) of Santa Cruz del Quiché, which has a population of around 100,000 . The city has been the seat of the Quiché diocese since 1967 .

Location and climate

The city of Santa Cruz del Quiché is located about 160 km (driving distance) northwest of Guatemala City in the northern foothills of the Sierra Madre at an altitude of about 2020  m . The city of Quetzaltenango is about 70 km southwest. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 1015 mm / year) falls almost exclusively in the summer half-year.

population

Approx. 96% of the population are Quiché Indians; a small proportion is accounted for by relatives of the mother . The city and its surrounding area have high population growth and a correspondingly high migration rate .

Economy and tourism

Santa Cruz del Quiché is a transport hub in the hinterland of the department and serves as a trading center for the surrounding agricultural villages. From a tourist point of view, Santa Cruz is in the shadow of Chichicastenango, approx. 17 km south .

history

Utatlán (actually K'umarkaaj ), 4 km west of Santa Cruz, was the center of the Quiché Indians before the arrival of the Spaniards. These were subjugated in 1524 by Pedro de Alvarado , who razed Utatlán and his fortress to the ground. According to legend, the Laguna de Lemoa was created from the tears of the Quiché women who mourned their murdered husbands. The remaining families were relocated to Santa Cruz del Quiché, founded in 1539. In the colonial times, the place was a center of the Dominicans, who Christianized the surrounding area. After independence from Spain , Santa Cruz became part of the Department of Sololá , and in 1872 it became the administrative center of the newly established Department of El Quiché . Santa Cruz only received full city ​​rights on November 26, 1924. In 1967 the city also became a bishopric . The city and its surrounding area suffered heavily from the civil war in the years that followed.

Attractions

  • The right-angled road network dates from the Spanish colonial times.
  • Today's cathedral was once the monastery church of the Dominican Order ; the towerless construction dates from 1768.
  • Immediately next to it is the former governor's palace with its multi-tiered bell tower .
Surroundings
  • There is not much left to see of K'umarkaaj , the former Quiché capital.

See also

Web links

Commons : Santa Cruz del Quiché  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Santa Cruz del Quiché - climate tables
  2. ↑ Santa Cruz del Quiché - History