Santa María Visitación

About Santa María Visitación:

Drivers leave the Inter-American Highway (CA-1) at kilometre 148, in Santa Lucía Utatlán, which puts the town 164 km from Guatemala City and 27 km from the department capital, Sololá. Santa Lucía Utatlán lies to the north and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán to the west. Santa Clara La Laguna is right next door, close enough that the two towns were already locked in a legal dispute in the 1580s and have belonged to the same parish since 1963. To the south and east the land falls toward San Juan La Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna on the shore of Atitlán. Besides the town, the municipality holds two caseríos, Chuipoj and Montecristo, and two smaller parajes, El Porvenir and Palax.

Most families here farm. Coffee takes the biggest share of the cultivated ground, avocado and maize bring in most of the household income, and small plots of tomato, broccoli, carrots, potatoes and lemons fill the gaps. In the Patúm woods, coffee now covers most of Patúm Grande and a good part of Patúm Pequeño, planted in among the trees. The town also has its tailors: nine workshops cut suits, trousers and skirts, many of them for students finishing their last year of school. Schooling runs through the diversificado level, with a public institute that trains perito contadores and a technical institute offering the bachillerato.

The woods are the main event. Xiquin Ch’oy, the largest stand, lies 6.5 km west of town on the road to Chuipoj and has been a municipal ecological park since 2003, while the T’zamten hill to the north-west climbs on slopes of up to 75 degrees under broadleaf forest. Both belong to the Zunil–Atitlán–Balam Juyú bio-cultural corridor, and forest cover has recovered ground in recent years. Thirty-five springs supply the drinking water. The two main rivers, the Yatzá and the Xe Chim, carry the town’s drainage and are no use for irrigation. Days stay mild all year, 21 to 23 °C, but nights drop below 10 °C from November to February, and close to 1,500 mm of rain falls between May and October, with September the wettest month.

Visitecos, as locals call themselves, are almost all Maya. Tz’utujil is the language of the town and El Porvenir, K’iche’ is spoken in Chuipoj and Montecristo, and the few families of Palax speak Kaqchikel, with Spanish second for most people. The town traces its roots to Tz’utujil settlers from Santiago Atitlán before the Spanish arrived, and colonial officials knew it as La Visitación de Nuestra Señora. The year turns on the patronal feast on 30 and 31 May, the titular fair from 30 June to 3 July, when the reina indígena is chosen, and Holy Week, when the parish stages the Passion live. Property mostly changes hands between local families, so expect to deal with owners directly, often in Tz’utujil or K’iche’.

Houses in Santa María Visitación:

Homes in the town are family houses on a short grid of streets around the church, many of them extended a room at a time over the years. Chuipoj and Montecristo, out toward the western forests, are smaller and more rural. Ask where the water comes from, because the town runs on mountain springs and supply depends on which system the house is tied into. Ask too where the wastewater goes, since the town’s drains end up in the Xe Chim and the Yatzá. If you are looking at houses for sale in Santa María Visitación, come back in the rainy months and watch how the street and the slope behind the house handle a downpour.

Land and Lots in Santa María Visitación:

Most land that comes up is working farmland: coffee at the forest edge, avocado trees, maize and bean plots. Highland plots are priced by the cuerda, and a cuerda is not the same size everywhere, so pin down the measure before you compare two offers. Several of the forests are municipal and Xiquin Ch’oy is a protected park, so check the boundaries against the municipality’s records before any money moves. Cutting trees to open a building site needs authorisation from INAB, the national forestry institute. The ground is steep in much of the municipality, so walk the parcel and ask how a car or truck reaches it in September. Good land for sale in Santa María Visitación comes with rights to a spring or a connection to a community water system, and with a deed recorded at the property registry.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Santa María Visitación?

  Take the Inter-American Highway (CA-1) west and turn off at kilometre 148 in Santa Lucía Utatlán. The town is 164 km from Guatemala City and 27 km from Sololá.

• Is Santa María Visitación on Lake Atitlán?

  No. It is a highland town at 2,065 metres in the hills west of the lake. The lakeside towns of San Juan La Laguna and San Pablo La Laguna are its neighbours to the south and east.

• What is the climate like?

  Mild days, 21 to 23 °C, and cold nights below 10 °C from November to February. Rain comes from May to October, heaviest in September, and the rest of the year is close to dry.

• Can I build on wooded land?

  Check first. Three-quarters of the municipality is forest, several stands are municipal, and Xiquin Ch’oy has been a protected park since 2003. Clearing trees also needs authorisation from INAB.

• Which languages are spoken?

  Tz’utujil in the town and El Porvenir, K’iche’ in Chuipoj and Montecristo, and Kaqchikel in Palax. Most people also speak Spanish, but a local go-between helps when you deal with older owners.