Fraijanes

Fraijanes is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala.

Known for its fine tasting coffee, which is slightly more acidic than that of Antigua Guatemala. The Lycée Français Jules Verne, an elite French international school, is located in Fraijanes.

History

Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz wrote in his book Descripción Geográfico-Moral De La Diócesis de Guatemala (English:Moral and geographic description of Guatemala Diocesis), that after the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies in 1767, the left behind a rich hacienda located in the area where the modern Fraijanes municipality stands, which was given to two secular priest called Juan Milán and Juan Álvarez. These priest earned both the respect and love of the people from the area and in 1860, the region was renamed as "Frailes Juanes", in their honor. Eventually, the name changed into "Fray Juanes" and finally into "Fraijanes".

Jesuit hacienda

In 1646, Fraijanes had been given to the Society of Jesus to establish a doctrine; even though currently there is not any religious evidence left on the ruins, making it difficult to assign them to a regular order in particular, the work from Cortés y Larraz shows that the area belonged to a Jesuit doctrine. Another version suggests that the ruins are from a rich Spanish hacienda, and basis the assumption on the presence of a tunnel that connects the main residence to a small church.