San Lucas Tolimán

San Lucas Tolimán is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala.[3] The town of 17,000 people sits on the southeastern shore of Lago de Atitlán. The population is 90–95% Highland Maya. There is a population of about the same size living in the surrounding villages.

San Lucas Tolimán
Municipality of Guatemala
Street of San Lucas Tolimán
San Lucas Tolimán
location in Guatemala
Coordinates: 14°38′N 91°8′WGNS-enwiki
Country Guatemala
Department Sololá
Catholic mission built1584
Government
 • Typemunicipal
 • MayorMoisés Miza Castro[1] (LIDER)
Elevation
1,700 m (5,600 ft)
Highest elevation
3,144 m (10,315 ft)
Lowest elevation
1,562 m (5,125 ft)
Population
 (census 2002)[2]
 • Municipality of Guatemala21,455
 • Urban
12,674
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central Time)
Country calling code502
ClimateAw
Websitewww.inforpressca.com/sltoliman

At 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) altitude the town offers "eternal spring" with annual temperatures ranging from 50–80 degrees F. The dry season runs from November through June/July (called "summer" locally) and the rainy season runs the other six months ("winter"). The area is free of malaria due to its elevation. The area's elevation ranges from 1,562 metres (5,125 ft) along the lake to 3,144 metres (10,315 ft) at the summit of Volcán Tolimán. Volcán Tolimán is just west of town.

History

Spanish colony

After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, San Lucas Tolimán was part of the Tecpán Atitlán "corregimiento" (English: Province) and when it turned into a major municipality in 1730, it became part of it as well;[4] regarding the Catholic faith, this was in charge of the franciscans, who had convents and doctrines in the area covered by the modern departaments of Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Sololá, Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, Suchitepéquez and Escuintla. The "Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús" (English:"Province of the most Holy Name of Jesus"), as the Franciscan area was then called, reached up to 24 convents.[4] In 1586, friar Alonso Ponce refers to San Lucas Tolimán as "little town".[5]

Under franciscan tenure, both in the Santiago Atitlán convent town as in the native towns in its annexed doctrines —such as San Lucas Tolimán—, there was religious teaching for 6 year old girls and older starting at 2:00 pm and for boys of the same age starting at sunset; the class lasted for 2 hours and consisted on memorizing the church teaching and prayers and to make some exercises with the catechism and it was run by a priest or by elder natives, called "fiscales".[6] Adults attended Mass every Sunday and holiday and after mass, there were religious teachings in their own language.[6] Lent was a time of the year when the friars prepared the natives thoroughly, using their own language to accomplish their goals; every Friday of Lent there was a procession following the Rosary steps all the way to the Calvary temple.[7]

In 1754, as part of the borbon reforms, the Franciscans where forced to, give their doctrines to the secular clergy;[8] thus, when archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz visited Panajachel in 1770, he described it as a member of the "Santiago Atitlan parish".[9]

After independence from Spain
See also: Justo Rufino Barrios

The town was elevated to municipality category on 2 September 1877, during the liberal regime of general Justo Rufino Barrios.[10]

20th century: San Lucas Mission

The area is well known as being the site of the San Lucas Tolimán Mission, overseen by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm in the city of New Ulm, Minnesota, which is a suffragan see in the Ecclesiastical Province of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Mission was founded in the 1960s by Monsignor Gregory Thomas Schaffer, who was responsible for starting up a series of education, health, and agriculture initiatives, including the granting of 3 acres of land each to 4,000 families, the launch of medical clinics, and the start of a fair-price coffee initiative.[11] Monsignor Schaffer encouraged a group of his lay volunteers to found Agua del Pueblo (AdP).[12] AdP is the oldest non governmental organization dedicated to water supply and sanitation in the world. Following the death of Monsignor Schaffer at the age of 78 in St. Paul of a rare form of lymphoma, a new group called the "Friends of San Lucas" has been appointed to continue the work in the area.[11]

21st century

On 13 October 2015, the Santiago Atitlán Courthouse issued a warrant for the arrest of the still mayor of San Lucas Tolimán, Oscar Pic Solís, for several charges; municipality secretary, Gaspar Cholotió Hernández, and treasurer, Alberto Cumes Cali were also arrested.[13] Pic Solis had been mayor since 2007, with the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza party, but he was not re-elected in the 2015 elections.[13]

Territory

San Lucas Tolimán has an area of 116 km² and is divided as follows:

San Lucas Tolimán Administrative division[14]
Category As of 1985 As of 1994
Municipal capital San Lucas Tolimán
Villages
  • Pachitulul
  • Panimaquip
 Panimaquip
Rural settlements Tzlamabaj
  • Pachojilá
  • Pachitulul
  • Pacoc
  • La Puerta
  • San Martín
  • Tierra Santa
  • Totolyá
  • Pampojilá
Micro sections
  • Pampojilá
  • Patzibir
  • Chanán
 N/A
Residential neighborhoods N/A
  • El Mirador
  • La Nueva Esperanza

Climate

San Lucas Tolimán has tropical climate (Köppen: Aw).

Climate data for San Lucas Tolimán
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 25.5
(77.9)		 25.4
(77.7)		 26.3
(79.3)		 25.7
(78.3)		 25.3
(77.5)		 23.3
(73.9)		 24.4
(75.9)		 24.3
(75.7)		 23.7
(74.7)		 24.0
(75.2)		 24.9
(76.8)		 24.9
(76.8)		 24.8
(76.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.8
(65.8)		 18.6
(65.5)		 19.5
(67.1)		 19.6
(67.3)		 19.6
(67.3)		 18.9
(66.0)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.0
(66.2)		 18.7
(65.7)		 18.8
(65.8)		 18.8
(65.8)		 18.3
(64.9)		 19.0
(66.2)
Average low °C (°F) 12.2
(54.0)		 11.9
(53.4)		 12.8
(55.0)		 13.5
(56.3)		 14.0
(57.2)		 14.5
(58.1)		 14.2
(57.6)		 13.8
(56.8)		 13.8
(56.8)		 13.6
(56.5)		 12.8
(55.0)		 11.8
(53.2)		 13.2
(55.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 3
(0.1)		 18
(0.7)		 16
(0.6)		 51
(2.0)		 144
(5.7)		 387
(15.2)		 209
(8.2)		 220
(8.7)		 388
(15.3)		 214
(8.4)		 44
(1.7)		 10
(0.4)		 1,704
(67)
Source: Climate-Data.org[15]

Geographic location

Located 42 km south of department capital, Sololá, Sololá.

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See also

Notes and references

References
  1. "Alcaldes electos en el departamento de Sololá". Municipalidades de Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala. 7 September 2015. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "XI Censo Nacional de Poblacion y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002)". INE. 2002.
  3. "San Lucas Mission". San Lucas Mission.
  4. García Añoveros 1989, p. 891
  5. http://www.sanlucasmission.com/
  6. García Añoveros 1989, p. 896
  7. García Añoveros 1989, p. 897
  8. Juarros 1818, p. 338.
  9. Cortés y Larraz 2001, p. 409-412.
  10. "History of San Lucas Tolimán". San Lucas Mission. Guatemala. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  11. "San Lucas Mission". Catholics News Service. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  12. Chipman, C.; Strait, V.; Clemens, B. (2014). "Who Cares About the Community? Agua del Pueblo as a case study for water-related non-profit work". American Journal of Social Issues and Humanities. 4 (6): 319–334.
  13. "Alcalde de San Lucas Tolimán es buscado por la ley". ElPeriódico. Guatemala. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on October 14, 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  14. Zetino Boteo 2008, p. 6
  15. "Climate: San Lucas Tolimán". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  16. SEGEPLAN. "Municipios del departamento de Sololá". SEGEPLAN (in Spanish). Guatemala. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Bibliography

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