Showing 1-6 of 6 results
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Capilla del Calvario
On the west side of the plaza is another whitewashed church, the Capilla del Calvario, which is similar in form and function to Santo Tomás, but smaller.
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Chichi Market
Guatemala's largest and most colorful indigenous market, the twice-weekly Chichi market attracts traders from highland villages for miles around. Stalls and blankets are set up on the plaza and the streets around it. As well as essentials like fruit, vegetables, clothing and spices, you can search for handicrafts such as textiles, masks and carvings.
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Iglesia de Santo Tomás
Dating from 1540, this church is often the scene of religious rituals that are only slightly Catholic and more distinctly Mayan. For much of the day (especially on Sunday), the path to the church smolders with incense of copal resin, while indigenous prayer leaders swing censers (usually tin cans poked with holes) and chant magic words.
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Museo Regional
Chichi's regional museum is crammed with a collection of ceremonial masks, copper ax heads, obsidian spearheads, incense burners, figurines and metates (grindstones for maize). The museum also holds the Rossbach jade collection, with some beautiful necklaces and figurines. Hugo Rossbach was Chichi's Catholic priest for many years until his death in 1944.
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Pascual Abaj
On a hilltop south of the town, Pascual Abaj (Sacrifice Stone) is a shrine to the Mayan earth god Huyup Tak'ah. Said to be hundreds - perhaps thousands - of years old, the stone-faced idol is revered by locals who come to offer incense, cigarettes, flowers, liquor and perhaps even sacrifice a chicken, in thanks for the Earth's continuing fertility.
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Pascual Abaj & Morería
On a hilltop south of the town, Pascual Abaj is a shrine to the Mayan earth god Huyup Tak'ah (Mountain Plain). Said to be hundreds - perhaps thousands - of years old, the stone-faced idol has suffered numerous indignities at the hands of outsiders, but local people still revere it. Chuchkajaues come regularly to offer incense, food, cigarettes, flowers, liquor, Coca-Cola, and perhaps even to sacrifice a chicken, in thanks and hope for the Earth's continuing fertility.
Showing 1-6 of 6 results
