San Juan Ermita

About San Juan Ermita:

San Juan Ermita is a compact municipality of some 92 square kilometres, bordered by Chiquimula to the west, Jocotán to the north and north-east, Olopa to the east and San Jacinto and Quezaltepeque to the south. The CA-11 leaves the CA-10 at Vado Hondo and crosses the municipality on its way through Jocotán and Camotán to the Honduran border at El Florido, and almost everything here is organised around it. From Guatemala City you drive the CA-9 Atlantic highway to Río Hondo, take the CA-10 towards Chiquimula and turn east onto the CA-11, a trip of a little under 200 kilometres. Buses bound for El Florido use the same road, so living here without a car is workable.

Farming is still how most families make a living. Maize and beans cover the lower slopes, and onions remain a cash crop in a few communities and in small irrigated plots inside the town itself. Higher up, around Lagunetas and Chispán Jaral, coffee has been replacing grain, and some larger landowners who once rented fields to smallholders now plant it themselves. The town centre has hardware stores, bakeries, small groceries and cafeterías, and the older crafts — palm hats, baskets, rope, clay roof tiles and bricks — have not disappeared; one of the barrios is still called La Tejera.

The land is rugged for its size, with 26 named hills, two rivers, the San Juan and the Carcar, and 17 streams cutting between the aldeas. The town lies in warm valley country while Chispán Jaral sits above 1,200 metres, and that difference in height decides what a piece of land is good for: grain and irrigated vegetables below, coffee above. Before the conquest this was Ch’orti’ country, and the town already appears as Hermita in Guatemala’s 1825 constitution. Its colonial church of San Juan Bautista still faces the central park, and the patron saint’s fair fills the streets from 22 to 24 June.

Around 19,000 people live in the municipality, most of them in its 20 aldeas and their caseríos rather than in the town. Spanish is the everyday language and a minority still speaks Ch’orti’; together with Jocotán, Camotán and Olopa, San Juan Ermita belongs to the Copanch’orti’ association of municipalities. Day-to-day health care comes from the CAP at San Pedrito and the health post at Los Encuentros, while the national hospital and the department’s bigger markets are in Chiquimula, 22 kilometres away. People buying here are mostly local families who want a lot near the road to build on, or farmers adding a parcel to the land they already work.

Houses in San Juan Ermita:

The houses that change hands are mainly in the town barrios — El Centro, La Escuela and La Tejera — on narrow urban lots where some families have built up to three levels. Living in town puts the park, the municipal hall, the schools and the buses on the CA-11 within walking distance. Out in the aldeas a house usually comes with land around it, so look at the water source, the state of the access track in the rainy season and whether relatives share the parcel. A house close to the CA-11 is the easier one to rent out or resell later, because that is where the traffic is.

Rentals in San Juan Ermita:

Apartments and ground-floor commercial units are let in Barrio El Centro and Barrio La Escuela, a short walk from the municipal hall. Some are offered together, an apartment with a shop space, which suits anyone planning to open a small business in the centre. Whole houses are rented too. Ask whether water and electricity are metered separately before you agree on a rent.

Land and Lots in San Juan Ermita:

Land is what this market is really about, and most lots for sale in San Juan Ermita are close to the CA-11. Near Los Planes, a few minutes from the municipal hall, 7 by 20 metre lots are being sold flat and ready to build, with electricity, well water and a paved lane 50 metres from the highway. Other subdivisions sell on instalments with a small down payment, and individual owners sell plots beside schools or off the road with a well of their own. Away from the road the market is farmland: grain fields on the lower slopes, coffee ground around Lagunetas and Chispán Jaral, and onion plots wherever there is water to irrigate. On any building lot, ask about drainage, because electricity and a well do not mean there is a sewer connection.

FAQ:

• How do I get to San Juan Ermita from Guatemala City?

  Take the CA-9 to Río Hondo, follow the CA-10 towards Chiquimula and turn east at Vado Hondo onto the CA-11, the road to Jocotán and El Florido. The town is 22 kilometres from Chiquimula city and a little under 200 from the capital, and buses heading for the border pass through.

• What should I check before buying a lot near the CA-11?

  Many of these lots are cut from a larger family property, so ask to see the registration of the exact parcel you are buying in the property registry instead of relying on a promise that the papers are in order. Then confirm how waste water will be handled, which well the water comes from and who maintains the lane that joins the highway.

• Is land in the upland aldeas different from land in the valley?

  Yes, and altitude makes most of the decision for you. Around Lagunetas and Chispán Jaral, above 1,000 metres, coffee is taking over from maize and beans, while the lower ground is grain land and, where there is irrigation, onion country. Decide what you want to grow before you compare parcels.

• Can I rent somewhere in town?

  Apartments, shop units and the occasional house are let in Barrio El Centro and Barrio La Escuela. Agree in writing with the owner who pays for water and electricity and how long the contract runs.

• What is there to see around San Juan Ermita?

  In aldea Los Peñascos, the Peñasco Los Migueles rock shelter holds 35 painted figures in red and black, recorded by university archaeology students in 1996 and reached on footpaths between the caseríos. In town there is the colonial church on the central park, and the June fair for San Juan Bautista is the busiest week of the year.