Sololá

About Sololá:

The municipality runs from the north shore of Lake Atitlán, where it meets Panajachel, up through pine and cypress ridges to the borders of Totonicapán and of Chichicastenango in Quiché. Concepción lies to the east, and Santa Cruz La Laguna, San José Chacayá and Nahualá to the west. Within those limits the ground climbs from 1,500 to 3,500 metres, and nine-tenths of it sits between 2,000 and 3,000. Guatemala City is about 140 km away. Drivers leave the Inter-American Highway (CA-1) at the Los Encuentros junction, at kilometre 127, or take the road through El Tablón that joins the city to the highway. From the city the RN-1 drops 600 metres in 8 km of switchbacks to Panajachel, and buses work that road all day.

Sololá lives on trade, public services and small farming. The Mercado Municipal, on the corner of Parque Centro América, is a multi-storey retail market, and a few blocks north the wholesale Mercado de Mayoreo moves sacks and crates by the truckload; both peak on Tuesdays and Fridays, Friday being the bigger day. Traders come in from Concepción, San José Chacayá, Nahualá and the lakeside towns. The departmental hospital takes patients from all nineteen municipalities, and the Centro Universitario de Sololá, the local campus of the Universidad de San Carlos, has been teaching here since 2013. On the plaza stand the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, seat of the Sololá-Chimaltenango diocese, and the Torre Centroamericana, a clock tower opened in 1914 that now holds a museum. In the aldeas, families grow maize, beans, potatoes and vegetables on small plots, with some coffee on the middle slopes.

The name comes from Tzolojyá, which locals read as elder-tree water, after the springs where the saúco grew. The Spanish founded the town in 1547, and it became one of the country’s first department capitals in 1825. The soils are young and volcanic, and from the streets above the plaza you get the widest view on the rim: Atitlán, Tolimán and San Pedro volcanoes lined up across the lake. Days stay mild all year, around 20 to 23 °C. Nights are another matter. The January low averages 7.4 °C, frost is a serious risk from December to February, and nearly all of the 1,470 mm of yearly rain falls between May and October, with September the wettest month.

Close to 90,000 people lived in the municipality at the 2018 census. Nearly all are Kaqchikel Maya, except in Argueta, where most families are K’iche’. Kaqchikel is the language of the street, and traditional dress is daily wear, down to the men’s wool jacket with a bat embroidered on the back. Beside the elected council, the Municipalidad Indígena speaks for 85 communities, 74 of which have their own community mayor, and its alcalde and council meet in ceremonial dress near the cathedral every Sunday. Outside the city the main village communities are Los Encuentros, El Tablón, San Jorge La Laguna and Argueta, with smaller places such as Pixabaj, Xajaxac, Pujujil and Chaquijyá. The town fair honours the Virgen de la Asunción from 7 to 16 August and peaks on the 15th, the day known as Nim Akij.

Houses in Sololá:

Most homes in the city were built by the families living in them, in concrete block, often added to a floor at a time. What comes up for sale is mostly modest: two or three bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room, in barrios such as San Bartolo, San Antonio or El Calvario. Many come with their own water tanks, so ask how many hours a day the piped water actually runs. Streets climb hard from the plaza; check whether a car can reach the door and where you would park it. A house near the market can earn from a ground-floor shop, but it also lives with market-day crowds twice a week. Looking at houses for sale in Sololá out in El Tablón or Los Encuentros, you trade a longer trip to the centre for more land and a quicker run to the highway.

Rentals in Sololá:

Renters here are mostly people who work or study in the city, not tourists. The departmental offices, the hospital and the university campus draw staff and students from other towns, and they tend to look for a room, a small unit inside a family house or a plain house close to the centre. Visitors to the lake sleep in Panajachel and come up for the market, so holiday letting carries little weight. Before you sign, agree in writing who pays water and electricity, and how and when the deposit comes back.

Land and Lots in Sololá:

Land is measured in cuerdas, and what you find is a mix of building lots in the aldeas and farm plots with room for a house. Around La Cuchilla and along the Inter-American Highway, sellers quote plots by how many minutes they sit from the road, and wide frontages on the CA-1 are leased as commercial land. Lower down, around San Jorge La Laguna, the slope faces the lake and the views are the draw, but the ground is steep and the RN-1 below has seen landslides in the rainy season, so get a soil and slope opinion before you build. Ask whether the parcel has a deed recorded at the property registry or only a private sale document, walk the boundaries with the neighbours, and confirm how water and power will reach it. In an aldea, it also pays to meet the community mayor before you sign anything.

FAQ:

• How far is Sololá from Panajachel and Guatemala City?

  Panajachel is 8 km down the RN-1, a steep road that drops about 600 metres; buses run it all day. Guatemala City is about 140 km away by the Inter-American Highway, turning off at Los Encuentros.

• Can I buy a lake-view property in Sololá?

  Yes, but the city itself is a highland town 600 metres above the water. The municipality runs down to the shore beside Panajachel, and the slopes around San Jorge La Laguna look straight over the lake, so that is the place to start your search.

• How cold does it get?

  Days reach 20 to 23 °C, but the January low averages 7.4 °C and frost is common from December to February. Look for good sun, solid walls and hot water.

• When are market days?

  Tuesday and Friday, with Friday the bigger one. Streets near the Mercado Municipal and the Mercado de Mayoreo fill early, so visit property close to the plaza on a market day to see how it really feels.

• What is the Municipalidad Indígena, and does it matter to a buyer?

  It is Sololá’s Indigenous authority, working alongside the elected council and speaking for 85 communities. If you are buying in an aldea, the community mayor knows the boundaries and the neighbours, which makes that conversation worth having early.