Place Archive

Santiago

Santiago Atitlán sits on the southern shore of Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands, surrounded by volcanic terrain that shapes both its geography and its economic life. The town operates as a commercial and residential center, with a street grid of narrow cobblestone roads serving local trade alongside daily movement between the lake and the highland communities above it. Overhead utility lines and mixed masonry construction mark a built environment that developed incrementally rather than through any single period of planned growth.

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Colorful colonial buildings line a cobblestone street in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, with volcanic highlands visible in the distance. — Santiago Atitlán sits on the southern shore of Lake Atitlán, between the volcanoes Tolimán and San Pedro, and is the largest Tz'utujil Maya town in the region. The parish church of Santiago Apóstol, built in the 16th century, anchors the town's grid of narrow streets radiating out from its central plaza. In December 1990, the Guatemalan army's killing of thirteen residents here led to the withdrawal of the local military garrison, a turning point during the country's civil war. The town is also known for its veneration of Maximón, a folk saint whose shrine moves to a different household each year.

Minneapolis Photographer