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GUATEMALA THE LAND OF BEAUTY
Panajachel Lake Atitlan area
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Panajachel is located in broad river delta. Panajachel
is the main center from which to see the Lake Atitlan
area. It has a number of hotels and restaurants covering a wide range
of prices and service.
During the period of the Spanish conquest, the shores
of the lake near where the Hotel Tzanjuy now stands were the scene of the
great battle in which the Spanish and their Cakchiquel allies defeated
the Tzutuhils. The Franciscans set up a church and monastery in Panajachel
soon afterward, and used the town as a center for converting the Indians
of the region to the Catholic faith. The original façade of
the church stills stands, and is one of the gems of the colonial
churrigeresque style in Guatemala.
Santiago Atitlan, largest and most traditional of
the lake towns, is a collection of stone bamboo huts with thatched roofs,
crowded along winding hand-laid stone paths. At the time the Spaniards
arrived, the capital of the Tzutuhil nation was located across the bay
on the hill called Chuitinamit, at the base of the San Pedro volcan.
Nothing reains of the fortress, but the area where the common people lived
is today's Santiago Atitlan.
Below a collection of photographs from the
area
Just before crossing to the other side of the Lake
The other side...A beautiful little posada.
Lake Atitlan
guatemala.geo@yahoo.com
dmaj: Oct. 3, 1998
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