San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán

San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán is a municipality in the El Progreso department of Guatemala. It is situated in El Jicaro, El Progreso, Guatemala and located at 290m above sea level. It contains 26,300 people. It covers a terrain of 358km2. San Agustin Acasaguastlan is located to the west of San Cristobal Acasaguastlan. To the south is El Jicaro. San Cristobal Acasaguastlan is 101 kilometer from Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala.

Origins

Acasaguastlán history, have their origins in the Mayan culture, its people are apparently with the cultures of Copan and Quirigua. In the ninth century and X invasions Nahuath (Nahoas) are located in the vicinity of Acasaguastlán up a cultural mixture that surely led to the original language and the place known only as the language Tlacabatleca or Alaguilac, the Spaniards are going and conquest, is founded the town of San Cristobal, placing the system instead of the aboriginal peoples of Spanish, as was customary at the time of conquest and forced submission to living in hills and mountains so scattered, forcing them to dislodge the Tinamit (town or city) as a religious, political and commercial. At the time of the conquest is the town of Acasaguastlán an important religious shrine, holy and sacred place for Indians, situated on the banks of the Motagua River, near what is now the seat of the Municipality of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán, holy for the Indians but did not have major construction, only mounds of worship as is Guaytán.This preponderance of religion and politics is used by the Spaniards to convert the status of prehistoric Acasaguastlán province in Spanish, so it is important to mention the importance of the town of San Cristobal, in the pro-independence riots of 1812, and set its central square as the first where were the first cries for independence. Today is the people of Acasaguastlán the head of the municipality of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán. The Municipality of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán, Zacapa belonged to before the creation of Decree 683 of April 13, 1908 which created the Department of El Progreso, the town goes to the Department of Zacapa. Legislative Decree 1965 of April 3, 1934 in the establishment of the new Department of El Progreso back again the municipality of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán to the Department of El Progreso Acasaguastlán was the original name as this town was the seat of corregimiento of the same name now bears the name of San Cristobal Acasaguastlán. Two of the finest examples of 16th-century Baroque architecture can be found in San Agustín Acasaguastlán and San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán in El Progreso.

Education

San Cristobal is currently the only municipality in Guatemala to be 100% literate.

Church

The colonial Cathedral of San Cristobal of 1654 is restored to its former glory and promises to be on par with the cathedrals and churches found in Antigua. The restoration project is being undertaken to undo damage caused by the earthquake of 1976.

See a picture of the Cathredral at http://farm1.static.flickr.com/203/512695708_80f3c57f85.jpg

External links

• Muni in Spanish
• [1]
• [2]

McNally, Shelagh. Adventure Guide to Guatemala (Adventure Guides Series). Grand Rapids: Hunter (NJ), 2003. Oss, Adriaan C. van. Catholic Colonialism A Parish History of Guatemala, 1524-1821 (Cambridge Latin American Studies). New York: Cambridge UP, 2002.