Things to Do in Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Quick facts: Twice a week, on Thursday and Sunday, up to 40,000 people from the surrounding mountains gather here to sell and buy everything from fruit to medicinal herbs. The market sits at an altitude of over 2,000 meters between two Baroque churches, where Catholic ceremonies blend with Maya rituals.

Highlights: On the steps of the Santo Tomás church, copal incense still burns to this day, and Maya shamans perform ceremonies here for a fee, while inside the church Christians pray, so both faiths coexist in a single space. It is not just about shopping; here a living religious and social theater unfolds that has no equal anywhere in Central America.

Quick facts: This museum is housed in a 16th-century building that originally served as a monastery for Dominican friars. Among other things, you will find a collection of Maya stelae, ceramics, and sacred objects used in ceremonies at the nearby Santo Tomás church.

Highlights: The museum's greatest treasure is the original collection of pre-Hispanic stelae and ritual vessels that reveal the daily life of the K'iche' long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Also valuable are the wooden masks from traditional dances that are still performed in the region today, each bearing the name and story of a specific character from Maya mythology.

Quick facts: At this sacred site, Maya faith blends with Catholic tradition, and thousands of pilgrims from all over Guatemala come here every year. Rituals with palm leaves, flowers, cigarettes, and liquor have been performed around the stone deity for centuries.

Highlights: Local shamans (chuchkajau) perform ceremonies here for a fee of around 50 quetzals, during which they light candles in numbers corresponding to the Maya calendar. The smoke of copal resin mingles with the scent of freshly cut flowers that pilgrims place against the face of the stone deity.

Quick facts: The chapel stands atop a hill above the town center and is dedicated to the Calvary, offering a view of the entire surroundings. Every Thursday and Sunday, processions of local believers make their way here, carrying statues of saints as part of the market below the hill.

Highlights: Unlike the main Santo Tomás church, here you will experience a much calmer and more personal spiritual atmosphere, where local Maya people light candles and leave flower offerings directly on the chapel steps. From the hill you can see all of Chichicastenango and the surrounding green hills, and if you climb up on Sunday morning, you will blend in with the crowds of pilgrims ascending in traditional dress.

Quick facts: This white chapel stands on an elevated spot above the main square and is one of the most important spiritual points in the town. Local Maya communities practice syncretic ceremonies here that connect Catholic faith with pre-Columbian traditions.

Highlights: The steps leading to the chapel are often strewn with flowers, candles, and smoke from copal used by Maya shamans during rituals. Inside you will find a statue of Christ, to which believers come with requests and thanks, often accompanied by drums and prayers in the K'iche' language.

Quick facts: The collection comprises over 3,000 textile artifacts, from everyday garments to ceremonial robes. More than 60 different traditional patterns from Maya communities across Guatemala are on display.

Highlights: Each huipil tells the story of its village origin; patterns have been passed down through communities for centuries and differ from town to town. Researchers have deciphered here that some motifs in the weaves mirror the Maya calendar and cosmological concepts.