Alotenango

Alotenango (Alo-tenamitl-co; translation "in the wall of the parrots") (variation: Atchalan) is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez. According to the 2002 Guatemalan census, the municipality has a total of 15,848 people. The municipality consists of four wards and is on the Escuintla road (National Highway 14). Located in a valley, Alotenango is a Ladino coffee center, since the times of general Justo Rufino Barrios liberal regime (1873-1885).

History

According to the Popol Vuh, the town is mentioned as Vucuc Caquix. The community of Alotenango grew up originally 3 to 4 kilometers south of the current settlement which today is the Candelaria farm. This settlement was established before the Spanish arrived in Alotenango in 1524. In the 1540s, bishop Francisco Marroquín split the religious coverage of the Guatemala central valley between the Order of Preachers and the Franciscans, getting to the latter the Alotenango curato, among others. Given that there was not a separation of Church and State, the curato division was trasnferred into the geography of the valley; thus, the Alotenango valley was delimited by the Guatemala valley —that is, Antigua Guatemala to the east, Chimaltenango valley to the north, and the Escuinta Province to the south and west.