San Cristóbal Verapaz

About San Cristóbal Verapaz:

The town stands at 1,393 metres in a valley of the Sierra de Pampacché. To get there you leave the CA-14 at Santa Cruz Verapaz and turn west; Cobán is 24 kilometres away on paved road, about half an hour by minibus, and Guatemala City roughly 210. The same road carries on west towards Uspantán in Quiché, and it has a hard history. In January 2009 the hillside at Los Chorros, west of town, came down across it and buried more than thirty people. The municipality runs all the way down to the Río Chixoy, its border with Quiché, and the Chixoy hydroelectric plant, which produces a quarter of Guatemala’s electricity, falls inside its limits.

Before the Dominicans arrived the place was called Kaj Koj, the red lion. In 1565 Poqomchi’ families brought from Chamá settled in what is now Barrio Santa Ana under Fray Francisco de Viana, and for the next two centuries San Cristóbal was the western door into Alta Verapaz, trading with the highlands in cacao. Today the payroll comes from leather. Alfonso Herring, a German, opened a tannery here in 1914, it was making shoes by 1921, and the company, now Grupo Cobán, still turns out its Rhino work boots at the plant in town with a workforce drawn almost entirely from the municipality. Ornamental-plant nurseries export from here as well, while families in the aldeas grow maize, beans, pacaya, cardamom, coffee, pepper and avocado.

Laguna Chichoj is small, a kilometre long and half as wide, yet 32 metres deep. It fills a cluster of sinkholes left where gypsum dissolved under the valley, and the same gypsum under the Los Chorros ridge is what keeps that slope sliding. The marshes around the lake are soft ground that compacts and can sink, and they flood when the cave that drains the lake backs up; an old shoreline shows the water has spread over them before. They are also being built on quickly, and Petencito, once an island, is half marsh because neighbours filled it in to build. Water hyacinth has shrunk the open water, but the shore still has Turicentro El Petencito, the ACJ’s Campamento Chichoj and boat trips from the jetty. Away from the lake the municipality has two climates, cool in the valley around town and hot down by the Chixoy.

At the 2018 census the municipality counted 68,819 people, 20,961 of them in the urban area, and most are Poqomchi’ Maya. The town is divided into five barrios, Santa Ana, San Felipe, San Sebastián, San Cristóbal and Esquipulas, each with its own fiesta, and the main feria runs from 20 to 25 July for San Cristóbal and Santiago Apóstol. On Calle Calvario, the Museo Katinamit keeps the kitchen tools, instruments, weaving and ritual objects of Poqomchi’ life. Beyond town there are 89 rural communities, from aldeas such as Santa Elena and El Rancho, each with a health post, to places like Pampacché, Quejá and Agua Blanca. Work is not plentiful for everyone, and many families have someone earning in Guatemala City or the United States.

Houses in San Cristóbal Verapaz:

Most homes in town are family houses in the barrios, built in block on long, narrow plots. A typical offer is a single-storey, three-bedroom house on a lot of 10 by 21 metres with a garage, its concrete roof already poured so a second floor can go on later. Newer, modern houses have gone up in Lotificación El Cafetal. There are small gated condominiums as well, with single-level homes of three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study, 200 square metres built on a 10 by 20 lot, supplied by the condominium’s own well and a monthly fee for security, water, rubbish collection and the green areas. Anywhere near the lake, ask whether floors or walls have ever cracked and then look for yourself before you make an offer on a house in San Cristóbal Verapaz.

Rentals in San Cristóbal Verapaz:

Long-term rentals are mostly houses, with a few apartments. The usual rental house has three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a laundry room with its pila, a hot shower and parking for one car, and water and electricity are billed apart from the rent. In Barrio San Felipe some owners let apartments by the month. Ask to see recent bills before you sign, so you know what the place costs to run.

Land and Lots in San Cristóbal Verapaz:

Lotificaciones on the edge of town sell standard building plots. El Cafetal offers 10 by 20 metre lots that it advertises as completely flat, next door to Lotificación Valle de San José, and Lotificación Bella Vista sells smaller 144-square-metre lots for cash or in instalments. Further out, land in the aldeas changes hands by the cuerda or the manzana, and whole fincas come up for sale in the rural part of the municipality. With any lot for sale in San Cristóbal Verapaz, ask whether it already has its own registered finca number or is still part of the developer’s parent property, and whether water, drainage and power are in the ground or only promised.

FAQ:

• How do I get to San Cristóbal Verapaz?

  From Cobán, follow the CA-14 to Santa Cruz Verapaz and turn west: 24 kilometres of paved road, about half an hour. Minibuses cover the route between the two towns. From Guatemala City the drive is around 210 kilometres up the CA-14.

• Is it safe to build near Laguna Chichoj?

  Take care there. The lake sits in sinkholes over dissolving gypsum, the marshes around it compact and can subside, and the flat land to its north and south floods; east of the lake, Finca La Esperanza has about 100 hectares that go under water. Lots on filled marshland carry the most risk. Ask the municipalidad about the sector before you buy and get a structural engineer to look at any house already standing.

• What should I check before buying land in the aldeas?

  Start by finding out whether the parcel lies inside one of the sixteen communal fincas in the municipality, where the land belongs to the community and the person selling may hold possession but no title of their own. Then confirm the owner of record and any liens at the property registry. West of town, look hard at the slope as well: the Los Chorros ridge on the road to Uspantán has collapsed more than once.

• Where do people in San Cristóbal Verapaz work?

  The boot factory is the largest employer, followed by the ornamental-plant nurseries and trade in town, plus crafts such as weaving, pottery, furniture-making, candle-making and saddlery. Out in the aldeas, most families live from the land.

• When is the town at its busiest?

  During the feria from 20 to 25 July and in Holy Week, when long processional carpets cover the streets. On weekends families come to picnic, camp and take the boats on Laguna Chichoj.