San Juan Ostuncalco

Ostuncalco
San Juan Ostuncalco
Municipality and town

Entering on Rt.1 from the N

Flag
Seal
Ostuncalco
Coordinates: 14°52′N 91°37′W / 14.867°N 91.617°W / 14.867; -91.617
Country  Guatemala
Department Quetzaltenango
Population
 • Total about 29,000
Time zone Central Time (UTC+6)
Climate Cwb

Ostuncalco, full name San Juan Ostuncalco, is a municipality in the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala. Beside Spanish, local people speak the Mam language. La Victoria is a village in this municipality.

Mercedarian doctrine


Mercedarian coat of arms.
The colonial Catholic Church built by the Mercedarians in the central plaza.

After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in the 1520s, the "Presentación de Guatemala" Mercedarian province was formed in 1565; originally, the order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy had gotten from bishop Francisco Marroquín several doctrines in the Sacatepéquez and Chimaltenango valleys, close to the capital Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, but they traded those with the Order of Preachers friars in exchange for the doctrines those had in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes area.[1] During the first part of the 17th century they also had doctrine in four town close to the city of Santiago, which eventually became city neighborhoods: Espíritu Santo, Santiago, San Jerónimo and San Anton —which was the capital of the Mercedarians, where they had their convent and where their comendador lived.[1]

According to bishop Juan de las Cabezas memoir in 1613[2] and the bishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz parish visit minutes from 1770,[3] the Mercedarians came to have nine doctrines, and numerous annexes, which were: Santa Ana de Malacatán, Concepción de Huehuetenango, San Pedro de Solomá, Nuestra Señora de la Purificación de Jacaltenango, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Chiantla, San Andrés de Cuilco, Santiago de Tejutla, San Pedro de Sacatepéquez, and San Juan de Ostuncalco.[4]

However, in 1754, due to the borbon reforms implemented by the Spanish kings, the Mercedarins -and the rest of the regular clergy for that matter-, had to transfer their doctrines to the secular clergy, thus losing their San Juan Ostuncalco doctrine.[5]

The 1765 Guatemala earthquake had its epicenter near Ostuncalco.

Traditions

The "Baile del Torito" is a local dance from San Juan Ostuncalco.

Climate

San Juan Ostuncalco municipal capital has temperate climate (Köppen: Cwb).

Climate data for San Juan Ostuncalco
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 17.0
(62.6)		 17.6
(63.7)		 19.2
(66.6)		 20.3
(68.5)		 19.8
(67.6)		 19.0
(66.2)		 18.8
(65.8)		 19.2
(66.6)		 18.6
(65.5)		 17.9
(64.2)		 18.0
(64.4)		 17.3
(63.1)		 18.56
(65.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 9.5
(49.1)		 10.1
(50.2)		 11.6
(52.9)		 13.3
(55.9)		 14.2
(57.6)		 14.2
(57.6)		 13.9
(57)		 13.6
(56.5)		 13.7
(56.7)		 12.9
(55.2)		 11.7
(53.1)		 10.5
(50.9)		 12.43
(54.39)
Average low °C (°F) 2.1
(35.8)		 2.6
(36.7)		 4.0
(39.2)		 6.3
(43.3)		 8.7
(47.7)		 9.4
(48.9)		 9.0
(48.2)		 8.1
(46.6)		 8.9
(48)		 8.0
(46.4)		 5.4
(41.7)		 3.8
(38.8)		 6.36
(43.44)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 4
(0.16)		 5
(0.2)		 14
(0.55)		 48
(1.89)		 180
(7.09)		 243
(9.57)		 184
(7.24)		 194
(7.64)		 265
(10.43)		 165
(6.5)		 22
(0.87)		 7
(0.28)		 1,331
(52.42)
Source: Climate-Data.org[6]

Geographic location

Ostuncalco municipality is surrounded by Quetzaltenango Department municipalities, except on the West, where it borders San Marcos Department:[7]

 Cajolá, Palestina de Los Altos, San Miguel Sigüilá and San Carlos Sija
San Pedro Sacatepéquez, El Quetzal y San Cristóbal Cucho, San Marcos Department municipalities San Mateo[7]
   Ostuncalco  
Concepción Chiquirichapa and San Martín Sacatepéquez[7]

See also

Notes and references

References

  1. 1 2 Juarros 1818, p. 336.
  2. ↑ Pérez 1966, p. 44.
  3. ↑ Cortés y Larraz 1770.
  4. ↑ Pérez 1966, p. 44-45.
  5. ↑ Juarros 1818, p. 338.
  6. ↑ "Climate: San Juan Ostuncalco". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 SEGEPLAN. "Municipios de Quetzaltenango, Guatemala". Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia (in Spanish). Guatemala. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.

Bibliography

Coordinates: 14°52′N 91°37′W / 14.867°N 91.617°W / 14.867; -91.617

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