Today Jolene, Tom, and myself are starting a four-day road-trip to the highlands to visit the archaeologic site of Iximche and the highland town of Chichicastenango (called Chichi for short). Tomorrow we will push farther into Quetzaltenango (Xile for short) and nearby towns, and finally we will spend a couple of days in Lake Atitlán before going back to Antigua.
We got on the way early, to beat the morning traffic, and by 8:30 am we were at Iximche (pronounced ee-shim-CHEH). This is a comparatively small site, that has some interesting historical significance. For one, it was not a kingdom, but a federated state of the five major "families" of the Kaqchikel, which had separated from the Quiché to create their own nation covering 1,200 square miles of central Guatemala. They were post-classic Mayas, and only established the capital of the confederation in 1460, a bare 65 years before the arrival of the Spaniards in 1524. They were, therefore, a very young nation that got nipped in the bud by the arrival of Pedro de Alvarado, so who knows where their experiment in federal government might have led them.
The location of Iximche was carefully chosen to be convenient for the lands managed by each family for the growth of maize, beans, and chile, while at the same time be relatively impregnable as it is surrounded by cliffs. The city had to be protected by ramparts, moats, and cliffs, from the hostile attacks of the Quiché. The Spaniards, alas, were welcomed as friends and did not have to take the city by force. Pretty soon they proved to be difficult guests demanding food and gold, and eventually enslaving the Kaqchikel. Reportedly, Pedro de Alvarado wrote to Cortés from this place, letting him know that he was establishing the capital of the province in that place. (There was never a formal adoption of Iximche as capital by the Spanish authorities, so Antigua still claims that honor).
The city was divided in sections, with each family keeping control of their own section, so each section had a place for the chief administrator, a temple of the sun, a temple of the moon, and a temple of mother earth, as well as a courtyard around which were the houses of the top brass of each family, and a ball game court. The farmers lived in the fields, scattered through the 1,200 square miles of the nation.
Most of the story of this place has been cobbled from the remembrances of elders, collected in 1560, letters from the Spaniards, and a relatively stoic archaeologic record (by that time the construction of stelle to commemorate big events had disappeared, and time had not been kind to the few murals still intact). A good number of pots and statues were recovered, and a few burials have been excavated, but they have not added much to the understanding of the site. Interestingly, the indigenous people are authorized to use the site for their religious ceremonies, which are a mix of indigenous traditions and the catholic ritual.
Happy with our visit Tom drove a twisty road up to Chichi, where we got a little after noon. Fortunately, we were able to check into our hotel, park the car, and go in the search for lunch on foot. After lunch we went to visit the main church (Santo Tomás), which is very ample but quite gloomy. The side altars are carved in dark wood that has lost its gold foil, and the paintings are almost completely obscured by a dark patina. In the center of the nave a mother and her child were being prayed over by a younger woman, who was burning incense and lighting candles around them. We later saw the same group praying in the indigenous church (Our Lord of the Holy Sepulcher), so we imagine that the younger woman was an indigenous shaman.
We then crossed the market place (more on that tomorrow) and went to the small archaeology museum, whose claim to fame is that one of the monks of the convent of Santo Tomás translated the Popol-Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayas, from Quiché to Spanish, and the little museum has a copy of the first edition with the text in Quiché opposite to the text in Spanish.
Our exploration then took us to the town cemetery, in which the crypts and tombs are a riot of colors that gives it the look of a colorful Guatemalan pueblito. Here too the shamans have permission to conduct indigenous rituals that involve lots of small fires and a large number of candles and incense. To get to the cemetery we had to go down a steep slope and were fearing the steep climb back to the central plaza when Tom had a brilliant idea: "Let's take a tuk-tuk back". Capital idea! For something equivalent to US$ 1 each we piled inside a tuk-tuk, which strained and strained but finally brought us to the top of the hill.
Finally, we went to visit the Indigenous church, Our Lord of the Holy Sepulcher, which appears to be an unconsecrated temple that is now open to indigenous peoples for celebrating their rituals. I was expecting a heavily decorated church, like the ones in the indigenous towns around San Cristobal de las Casas, in Mexico, which are colorfully decorated with neon lights and colorful altars loaded with food and other offerings. Alas, that was not the case. The church was again fairly dark, with most of the nave occupied by the platform where the image of the recumbent Christ is carried in procession. Back near the altar was the glass sarcophagus and the group we had met in the church of Santo Tomás repeating their prayers and incense burning.
We finished the afternoon by walking through the market,
where many people were getting ready for the big market day tomorrow Sunday.
Seeing the full extent of the market will be a highlight of our day.
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