Santa Apolonia

About Santa Apolonia:

Santa Apolonia is ringed entirely by other Chimaltenango municipalities: Tecpán to the west and south, San José Poaquil to the north-east and east, and San Juan Comalapa to the south-east. Guatemala City is 92 kilometres away and the department seat 39, paved all the way. The road that leaves the Inter-American at kilometre 90 climbs two kilometres to the town and carries on as asphalt for another eleven to San José Poaquil. Beyond Chipata, which has asphalt, the aldeas hang off dirt roads, and in the rainy season those get hard to drive. Chuaparal I is three kilometres from the centre; Panatzán, the farthest village, is 32.

More than half the working population lives off the land, most of them families farming their own plots. Carrots, potatoes, beans, maize, güicoy and chilacayote squash and peaches go out to markets in other departments, and cabbage, tomato and lettuce do well here too, while export vegetables are sold on through the bigger packers in Tecpán. The other trades are carpentry, furniture from local timber, weaving and pottery: ollas, comales, incense burners and vases built without a wheel, painted with red from a local stone the potters call coco, and fired on open ground. Fewer families work clay than a generation ago, but in aldeas such as Chipata potters still turn out pieces in workshops at home. The town itself has a Banrural branch, three rural savings banks, a health centre and a justice of the peace, yet its market is a small daily affair in front of the park and town hall, so for a full market most people go to Tecpán.

This is cold highland, and frost decides a good deal. From December to February it damages vegetables and grain across the municipality, and a drier sector also suffers drought from March to May and again during the July–August canícula, enough in bad years to wipe out most of a harvest. Much of the ground is better suited to forest than to crops; 173 hectares of productive forest are left, under pressure from illegal logging and fires. Water is the other limit. Piped household water, sewers and rubbish collection are essentially a town service, while electricity reaches every village.

Close to 24,000 people live in the municipality, about 5,300 of them in the town, and around 95 per cent are Kaqchikel Maya. The rest are spread over 13 aldeas and 16 caseríos, among them Xeabaj, Parajbey, Chipata, Xecohil, La Vega, Patzaj and Chiquex; Chipata and Parajbey work as small secondary centres with shops, a rural bank branch and a health post. The 1976 earthquake brought down the old church, and the present one went up between 1979 and 1982 with help from Catholic parishes in Louisiana and California. The patron saint’s fair runs from 7 to 10 February. Most buyers are local families purchasing a lot to build on or land to farm, with a smaller number of outsiders looking for a country house in the cold, close to the highway.

Houses in Santa Apolonia:

Finished homes cluster in the town, on the streets around the park, the church and the municipal building, where the house will have piped water and a sewer connection. Most are family houses on narrow, deep lots, and now and then one in the centre is offered for rent. In the aldeas a house is often a few rooms with a yard. Out in villages such as Xecohil you will also find larger country houses on plots of well over a thousand square metres, with peach, plum and avocado trees, a private well and a septic tank. Before you compare houses for sale in Santa Apolonia, ask whether the deed has been registered, not just signed in front of a notary.

Land and Lots in Santa Apolonia:

Land is the bulk of the market. Town lots are often narrow and deep, some with only seven metres of frontage, and plots of several thousand square metres come up within a kilometre or so of the central park. Farm parcels sell in every aldea, and large holdings also come up around the caserío of San Lucas. The municipal plan sends the town’s growth north-east, for commerce, industry and agro-processing, and south-east, for a new residential colonia with green space; it also plans a market for Chipata and asphalt to Parajbey. If you are looking at land for sale in Santa Apolonia outside the town, budget for your own water, since piped supply rarely reaches the villages, and drive the access road in the wet months before you agree a price.

FAQ:

• How far is Santa Apolonia from Guatemala City?

  92 kilometres. Leave the Inter-American at kilometre 90 and the town is two kilometres up a paved road. Chimaltenango is 39 kilometres away, and San José Poaquil 11 kilometres further on along the same asphalt.

• What should I check on title before buying near the highway turn-off?

  Which municipality the land is really in. Santa Apolonia and Tecpán meet around the junction, and addresses there are often written as “Santa Apolonia, Tecpán”, so a plot sold under one name may be registered and taxed in the other. Look up the finca at the property registry, check which municipality it sits in and that the seller is the registered owner, and with inherited village land make sure every heir signs.

• Do the aldeas have running water?

  Mostly not. Piped household water and sewers are a town service; in Chipata, Parajbey and the other villages most homes rely on wells, tanks and community systems, though all of them have electricity. On a rural plot, find out where the water comes from and who controls the source before you pay.

• Is frost a problem for farmland?

  Yes, from December to February it hits vegetables and maize across the municipality. The drier sector also loses crops to drought from March to May and in the July–August canícula. Ask the neighbouring farmers how the parcel has fared in recent years.

• Where do residents shop and bank?

  Day-to-day shopping is done in the small market facing the central park, and the town has a Banrural branch and three rural savings banks. For a full market, more shops and more banks, people head to Tecpán, a few minutes south.