Man sitting on street in the colonial city of Quetzaltenango Guatemala
Man sitting on street in the colonial city of Quetzaltenango Guatemala. Quetzaltenango, more commonly known as Xela (shay-la) is the second most populous city of Guatemala, after Guatemala City. It is both the capital of Quetzaltenango Department and the municipal seat of Quetzaltenango municipality. It has an estimated population of 300,000. The population is about 65% indigenous or Amerindian, 32% Mestizo or ladino, and 3% European. Quetzaltenango is located in a mountain valley at an altitude of 2,333 meters (7,655 ft) above sea level. In Pre-Columbian times Quetzaltenango was a city of the Mam Maya people called Xelajú, although by the time of the Spanish Conquest it had become part of the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj. The name may be derived from "Xe laju' noj" meaning "under ten mountains". The city was said to have already been over 300 years old when the Spanish first arrived. With the help of his allies, Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeated and killed the Maya ruler Tecún Umán here. When Alvarado conquered the city for Spain in the 1520s, he called it by the Nahuatl name used by his Central Mexican Indian allies, "Quetzaltenango", generally considered to mean "the place of the quetzal bird" (although see note on etymology below). Quetzaltenango became the city's official name in colonial times. However, many people (especially, but not only, the indigenous population) continue to call the city "Xelajú" (pronounced shay-lah-WHO) or more commonly Xela for short, and some proudly, but unofficially, consider it the "capital of the Mayas" From 1838 to 1840 Quetzaltenango was capital of the state of Los Altos, one of the states or provinces of the Federal Republic of Central America. As the union broke up, the army of Guatemala under Rafael Carrera conquered Quetzaltenango making it again part of Guatemala.
Size: 5232px × 3542px
Location: Quetzaltenango, Guatemala- Central America
Photo credit: © RFoxPhotography / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: Yes
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