San Juan Ostuncalco, is a town, with a population of 20,763 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & towns in Guatemala and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Quetzaltenango department of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. Beside Spanish, local people speak the

Mam language Mam is a Mayan language spoken by about half a million Mam people in the Guatemalan departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San Marcos, and Retalhuleu, and the Mexican states of Campeche and Chiapas. Thousands more make up a Mam di ...

Mercedarian doctrine

After the

Spanish conquest of Guatemala In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this te ...

in the 1520s, the "Presentación de Guatemala"

Mercedarian The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives (, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order established in 1218 by Peter Nolasco in the city of Barcelon ...

province was formed in 1565; originally, the

order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives (, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order established in 1218 by Peter Nolasco in the city of Barcelo ...

(the Mercedarians) had received from bishop

Francisco Marroquín Francisco Marroquín (1499 – April 18, 1563) was the first bishop of Guatemala, ''(in Latin)'' translator of Central American languages and provisional Governor of Guatemala. Biography Marroquín was born near Santander, Spain. He studied phi ...

several doctrines in the

Sacatepéquez Sacatepéquez () was a city in Guatemala from November 21, 1542 until July 29, 1773 when it was destroyed by the Santa Marta earthquake. Sacatepéquez means ''grasshill'' and gave its name to the Sacatepéquez Department. Sacatepéquez and Antig ...

and

Chimaltenango Chimaltenango is a city in Guatemala with a population of 96,985 (2018 census).Citypopulation.de
Population of ...

valleys, close to the capital

Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala ("St. James of the Knights of Guatemala") was the name given to the capital city of the Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Guatemala in Central America. It is located in present-day Antigua Guatemala. H ...

, but they traded those with the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

friars in exchange for the doctrines those had in the

Sierra de los Cuchumatanes The Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, in western Guatemala, is the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America. Etymology The name "Cuchumatán" is derived from the Mam words ''cuchuj'' (to join or unite) and ''matán'' (with superior forc ...

area. During the first part of the 17th century they also had doctrine in four towns 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. According to bishop Juan de las Cabezas's memoir in 1613 and the bishop

Pedro Cortés y Larraz Pedro Cortés y Larraz (Belchite, Zaragoza, 6 July 1712 - Zaragoza, 7 July 1787) was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala, Archbishop of Guatemala between 1767 and 1779 and bishop of Tortosa between 1780 and 1786. Biography Early life Grad ...

parish visit minutes from 1770, 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. However, in 1754, due to the Bourbon reforms implemented by the Spanish kings, the Mercedarians - and the rest of the

regular clergy Regular clergy, or just regulars, are clerics in the Catholic Church who follow a rule () of life, and are therefore also members of religious institutes. Secular clergy are clerics who are not bound by a rule of life. Terminology and history ...

for that matter - had to transfer their doctrines to the

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geograph ...

, thus losing their San Juan Ostuncalco doctrine. 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 a temperate, oceanic, monsoon-influenced climate, with dry winters and wet, cool summers (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cwb'').

Geographic location

Ostuncalco municipality is surrounded by Quetzaltenango Department municipalities, except on the West, where it borders

San Marcos Department San Marcos is a department in southwestern Guatemala, on the Pacific Ocean and along the western Guatemala-Mexico border. The department's capital is the city of San Marcos. History Colonial period The Spanish conquest of Guatemalan Highl ...

Notes and references

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Coord, 14, 52, N, 91, 37, W, display=title, region:GT_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of the Quetzaltenango Department