The Highlands, Guatemala
The highland town of Chichicastenango is a small and stucco-white town surrounded by high mountains. The town is home to an important, extensive and colourful artisan market which takes place on Thursdays and Sundays. Traders from all over the region bring their wares, textiles and handicrafts to sell here. The town and market are particularly colourful due to the local people’s traditional style of dress, in a myriad of colours.
Background
Chichicastenango was once an important Kaqchiquel trading town before the Spanish conquest. The town was then known as Chugüilá and Tziguan Tinamit, these names are still used by the K'iche' Maya, although the town is now known as Chichicastenango, a name given by the Spaniards' Mexican allies.
The citizens of the town are famous for their pre-Christian religious beliefs and ceremonies and the Santo Tomas church still uses distinctly Mayan rituals and Catholicism which can be seen in the cofradías (traditional religious brotherhoods) who march to Santo Tomas church every Sunday morning.
After three decades of civil war, starting in the 1960s, tourists began to return to the highlands and the town’s huge twice-weekly handicraft market has now become a popular attraction along with the regional museum which houses a collection of artefacts.