Thursday Doors #16 Chichicastenango Market

Chichicastenango is well known for the very large market held there twice a week. Food, textiles, souvenirs, flowers incense, woodwork, you name it, it can probably be found.

This is the  400-year-old church of Santo Tomás. It is very interesting as actually built on the site of a pre-Columbian temple and the steps originally lead up to this Mayan temple. The 18 steps represent the 18 months of the Mayan Calendar.

We were told as the Spanish missionaries tried to convert the Mayans in sometimes less than gentle ways the locals still managed to incorporate their indigenous beliefs into the church decorations and rituals albeit covertly.

Nowadays, K’iche’ Mayan Priests can use the church more openly and bun incense and candles as part if the indigenous ceremonies.  Every now and then a chicken may be burned for the gods. Although we did not see that, we did see lots of chooks meeting their maker at the local butchers.

We passed this chap playing his gourd xylaphone and as we passed through the arched entrance we found ourselves in a peaceful courtyard away from the hustle and bustle of the market,

Tuk tuks seem to be a world wide phenonmen!

In response to Norm 2.0‘s Thursday Doors.

Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu

Leanne

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