Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tory surrounding this town, including the old K'iche' capital of K'umarcaaj, also known
as Utatlán thanks to Pedro de Alvarado's Mexican allies. It was here that Alvarado and his
men were invited to sign a formal surrender by the defeated K'iche's after the showdown
near Quetzaltenango. The surrender turned into wholesale slaughter when Alvarado sus-
pected a trap and enticed the K'iche' rulers outside the safety of their city walls and then
charged them with treason and burned them at the stake.
More recently, Quiché, as it's better known, housed an army garrison and the surround-
ing countryside was the site of intense battles between guerrilla and army forces during the
civil war. The villages to the north suffered greatly during the conflict, particularly those
in an area known as the Ixil Triangle. Today, the city serves mostly as a transit point for
travelers heading north to these exquisite villages and their fantastic surroundings, which
have become increasingly attractive in the advent of peace.
The military barracks that once occupied the northeast corner of the plaza was closed
in 2004. The plaza is dominated by, as usual, the church, said to have been constructed
by Dominican friars using stones from K'umarcaaj's Templo Tohil. The local market is
held on Thursdays and Sundays, just as in neighboring Chichicastenango. Other than that,
there's little in the way of sights in the town proper.
K'umarcaaj (Gumarcaaj)
The former capital of the K'iche' empire enjoys a splendidly sylvan setting surrounded by
deep ravines, though little has been carried out in the way of restoration since it was des-
troyed by the Spanish conquerors in 1524. Only a few structures are still recognizable and
thesiteconsistsmostlyofunexcavatedgrassymounds.TheK'iche'establishedthemselves
here sometime around A.D. 1250 after a migration from the Gulf of Mexico lowlands
(previously Toltec territory) to the Yucataán Peninsula and up the Río Usumacinta. They
were able to dominate and subdue the less-complex highland societies they encountered
along the way, eventually establishing a sizable kingdom that stretched as far east as the
lands occupied by the Rabinal of modern-day Alta Verapaz, west to present-day Momos-
tenango, north to the Sierra de Chuacús, and south to Chichicastenango. The population
of the immediate urban area is thought to have numbered 20,000. The formal founding of
K'umarcaaj, signaling the consolidation of K'iche' power, dates from about A.D. 1400. It
fell briefly under the dominion of the Mexica (Aztec) of Central Mexico, with whom they
maintained a peaceful coexistence, until the arrival of the Spanish two decades later.
Of the city's 80 structures, few are recognizable, these being limited to the area around
the central plaza. The partially restored
Templo Tohil
is the site's tallest structure and fea-
tured a sacrificial stone altar that was once the site of ritual human sacrifice. It is dedic-
