Jocotenango

About Jocotenango:

Jocotenango sits at 1,540 metres in the Panchoy valley, directly north of Antigua Guatemala. Sumpango lies to the north and Pastores to the west, and Antigua wraps around the south and east, so on that side the boundary runs through streets rather than fields. From Antigua’s central park the drive takes ten minutes; from the northern edge of the old city it is a fifteen-minute walk. Buses leaving Antigua’s terminal for Chimaltenango stop here, and the RN-14 bypass built early this century takes through traffic around the centre instead of across the plaza. The departmental hospital and the social-security clinics are just over the line in Antigua.

The town grew from a farming settlement beside the colonial capital, peopled by Kaqchikel families who followed the Spaniards into the valley after 1541, and the Dominicans ran it as a doctrina for centuries. When the capital moved again after the 1773 earthquakes, part of the town went with it and founded a second Jocotenango, now zona 2 of Guatemala City. Both still hold their fair for the Virgen de la Asunción in mid-August, a tradition that here goes back to the seventeenth century. More than twenty thousand people live in the municipality today, nearly all of them in the urban area. The singer Ricardo Arjona was born here.

Daily life turns on the plaza, where the arched veranda of the municipal building faces the baroque church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, its twisted columns and bright colours recalling the little sugar churches sold at fairs. Local workshops are known for carved wooden fruit and gold-leaf work. La Azotea, an old coffee finca within the municipality, still keeps its late-nineteenth-century beneficio machinery and water wheel, and now houses the Museo del Café, the Casa K’ojom museum of Maya music and a riding centre. The gated condominiums that grew up around it draw people who want Antigua close by but would rather come home to a quieter street, while most local families live in the colonias spread across the town’s seven zones.

The urban area covers the flat valley floor; behind it the land rises toward Cerro El Narizón in the El Rejón range and the wooded hill of Panza de Burro. The Río Guacalate crosses the municipality, and the local disaster committee watches its level every rainy season. Heavy rain carries sediment off eroded slopes, most visibly above La Rinconada and Vista Hermosa, and leaves it in the streets for the municipality to clear. That is the reason to look hard at drainage, and at how a plot sits against the street, before you look at the view.

Houses in Jocotenango:

There are two quite different ways to own a house here. Inside the gates, Jardines de La Azotea sits beside the coffee museum with cobbled streets, a perimeter wall, a gatehouse and a clubhouse with a pool, and Residencial Bella Vista holds larger houses of up to five bedrooms and well over 400 m². Three bedrooms on 125 to 250 m² is the common size, usually finished in a colonial style that matches Antigua. Monthly maintenance in these condominiums covers security, water and rubbish collection.

Outside the garita, houses for sale in Jocotenango are mostly two- and three-storey homes in colonias such as San Isidro II, built upward on plots as narrow as eight metres, often with a roof terrace. You get more room to extend and no monthly fee. You also park on the street and sort out your own services.

Apartments in Jocotenango:

Jocotenango has no towers. The apartments that come up are small units in the colonias, Los Llanos in particular: two bedrooms, sometimes at the end of a callejón, with a shared entrance and no parking. A few sit in tiny condominiums of around four units, with a gate and a quieter courtyard. They suit one person or a couple who work in Antigua and do not need a garage.

Rentals in Jocotenango:

Rentals here split in two. Unfurnished houses and apartments in the colonias go to local families and to people who work in Antigua, and anyone hunting for one tends to search Jocotenango, San Felipe and Los Llanos together. Furnished houses inside the condominiums are let to newcomers settling near Antigua, and some owners offer the same house for rent or for sale. If you are renting near the plaza, remember that the mid-August fair, with rides, marimba and fireworks, runs for about a week.

Land and Lots in Jocotenango:

Open land is scarce in a municipality this small and this built-up. What comes up is mostly lots inside gated residenciales, such as a 13 by 20 metre plot a few minutes from Antigua’s centre. Plots higher up, toward La Rinconada and Vista Hermosa, sit on ground that erodes, so ask where the water goes in a storm. Before you draw plans, find out whether your project will need review by the council that protects Antigua, and build that time into your budget.

FAQ:

• How far is Jocotenango from central Antigua?

  Ten minutes by car from the central park, north along Calle Ancha de los Herreros, and a fifteen-minute walk from the northern edge of the old city. Chimaltenango-bound buses from Antigua’s terminal stop in town. Calle Ancha is closed now and then for works or events, so learn the way round through San Felipe.

• Do Antigua’s building rules reach Jocotenango?

  In part. The Ley Protectora de la Ciudad de La Antigua Guatemala requires the mayors of Jocotenango, Ciudad Vieja and Pastores to forward construction applications to the Consejo Nacional para la Protección de La Antigua Guatemala. Ask the municipality early whether your project goes to the council, and what it will look at, before you commit to a design.

• What should I check before buying a house or lot here?

  Start with water. Runoff from the slopes leaves sediment in the streets after heavy storms and the Guacalate is watched every rainy season, so see the property after a downpour and check whether it sits below street level. Then get the certificate from the property registry to confirm the owner, the measurements and any liens, and in a condominium read the regulations and the record of maintenance payments before you sign.

• Is it better to buy inside a garita or outside?

  Inside, you pay a monthly fee for security, water and rubbish, the streets are private, and the regulations decide what you can add. Outside, in colonias such as San Isidro or Los Llanos, plots are narrower and parking is on the street, but there is no fee and more freedom to build upward. Walk both kinds of street at different hours before you choose.

• When is the town at its busiest?

  Around 15 August, when the fair of the Virgen de la Asunción takes over the plaza and the park beside the church for about a week. The third Sunday of Lent brings the Jocotenango procession, and Holy Week brings carpets to the streets. Buying or renting close to the plaza means living with all three.