San Pedro La Laguna

San Pedro La Laguna is located on the southwestern shore of Lago de Atitlán. The town is located beneath Volcan San Pedro. This volcano towers over the lake at 9,905 feet and is an attraction for climbers and hikers. The town of San Pedro La Laguna sits on a plateau and has roads running down either side of a steep ridge towards docks on the lakeshore. The dock on the west side of the plateau is called muelle municipal and has boats arriving from and departing to the town of Panajachel. The east side has a dock named muelle santiago which has boats arriving from and departing to Santiago Atitlan. The east side is also home to la playa (the beach) where people enjoy snorkeling, canoeing, and kayaking.Greenspan, Eliot. Frommer's Guatemala. 3rd ed. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing, 2011. Print. p.153.

San Pedro La Laguna can be reached by regular boats across Lake Atitlán from Panajachel (45 min) and Santiago Atitlán (30 min), or by direct bus from Guatemala City (4 hrs), Xela (3 hrs), and Mazatenango. The town is located one hour off the Interamericana Highway (CA-1) at km 148. Buses for San Pedro depart hourly from zone 8, near the Trébol interchange, alongside Calzada Roosvelt in Guatemala City or, in Xela, from the main bus terminal in zone 3.

San Pedro La Laguna is a small town with a population of approximately 13,000 people.{{cite web|last=Hubbard|first=Kristen|title=San Pedro La Laguna -- Lake Atitlan, Guatemala|url=http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/panajachellakeatitlan/a/SanPedroLaguna.htm|work=About.com|publisher=About.com|accessdate=26 March 2012}} The inhabitants of San Pedro are primarily Tz'utujil Maya, with a small, but growing, expatriate community. The population is over 90 percent indigenous.{{cite web|last=McGraw|first=John J.|title=Basic Facts|url=http://www.tzununya.com/|work=Tz'unun Ya'.com|publisher=John J. McGraw|accessdate=26 March 2012}} The expatriate community that is forming within San Pedro La Laguna is composed of Americans and Europeans.{{cite web|last=Hubbard|first=Kristen|title=San Pedro La Laguna -- Lake Atitlan, Guatemala|url=http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/panajachellakeatitlan/a/SanPedroLaguna.htm|work=About.com|publisher=About.com|accessdate=26 March 2012}}

Catholicism is the religion that is the most dominant in San Pedro La Laguna. It has been the most dominant religion since the 16th century, when Spain colonized Central America.{{cite book|last=Morrison|first=Marion|title=Guatemala|url=https://archive.org/details/guatemala0000morr|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Children's Press|location=New York|isbn=0-516-23674-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guatemala0000morr/page/89 89]}}

Although the Catholic religion has been dominant for centuries, about half of the population still practices traditional Maya rituals either separately, syncretically, or alongside another religion.{{cite book|last=Morrison|first=Marion|title=Guatemala|url=https://archive.org/details/guatemala0000morr|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Children's Press|location=New York|isbn=0-516-23674-1}} Xocomil, a wind coming from the south that "carries away sin", usually visits the Lake Atitlán area around midday. If the wind is coming from the north, the Maya claim, the lake's spirit is getting rid of a person who has drowned after claiming his or her soul.{{cite book|last=Stewart|first=Lain|title=The rough Guide to Guatemala|year=2009|publisher=Rough Guides|location=New York|isbn=978-1-84836-017-4|pages=150|edition=4th}}{{better source needed|date=April 2025}}

In 2010, due to an influx of Jewish tourists and immigrants from Israel and North America, a synagogue and kosher restaurant were opened by an Israeli organization known as Chabad of San Pedro, Guatemala.{{Cite web|url=http://chabadpedro.com/en/about-us/|title = About Us|website=Chabad House Pedro|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201030155104/https://chabadpedro.com/en/about-us/|archive-date=October 30, 2020}} Today, many Israeli businesses in the town have Hebrew language signs and advertising.{{Cite web|url=https://religionunplugged.com/news/2020/2/25/israels-guatemalan-outpost|title = Inside Israel's Guatemalan Outpost}} Clashes between Jewish tourists and local indigenous people have been reported.{{Cite news |date=2014-08-30 |title=Jews 'forced' to leave Guatemala village |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28992743 |access-date=2025-04-04 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

San Pedro La Laguna is in the Sololá department of Guatemala. San Pedro La Laguna is separated into four cantons: Pacucha, Chuacante, Chuasanahi, and Tzanjay.{{cite web|last=McGraw|first=John J.|title=Tz'unun Ya'.com|url=http://www.tzununya.com/|publisher=John J. McGraw|accessdate=23 March 2012}}

San Pedro La Laguna passed a town ordinance{{when?|date=April 2025}} to ban the use of plastic, which includes straws and plastic bags. The citizens have opted to utilize readily made textiles, baskets, etc. for daily use during their shopping trips.{{Citation|title=Guatemala: un pueblo sin plástico {{!}} Reporteros en el mundo|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9lxoRzxrE|language=en|access-date=2019-10-30}} Residents have complained of contamination in the lake, caused by pollution, increased population, tourism, and cyanotoxin, a bacterium which has substantially increased since 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://truthout.org/articles/contamination-of-sacred-lake-underscores-environmental-racism-in-guatemala/|title=Contamination of Sacred Lake Underscores Environmental Racism in Guatemala|last=Abbott|first=Jeff|website=Truthout|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-30}}

Museo Tz'unun 'Ya is a museum documenting local history and customs, including the formation of the lake and colorized photos of pre-Civil War San Pedro La Laguna.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/guatemala/san-pedro-la-laguna/attractions/museo-tzunun-ya/a/poi-sig/484052/358420|title=Museo Tz'unun 'Ya {{!}} San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala Attractions|website=www.lonelyplanet.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-30}} Indigenous medical traditions are still commonly practiced by healers, known as curanderos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/despite-centuries-mayan-healers-are-still-curing-caring-ancient-sacred-n824936|title='Maya healers' captures centuries-old cures in Guatemala's sacred spaces|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-10-30}}

The Guatemalan Civil War spanned the years from 1960 to 1996. During this time San Pedro La Laguna remained relatively unaffected and unharmed by the surrounding violence. However, from the years of 1980 to 1982 there was a series of kidnappings and murders in the community. It became known that the local military commissioners were behind these actions. It was alleged that villagers were blacklisted for many different activities including promoting adult education in the local Mayan language (Tzʼutujil), and celebrating the anniversary of the victory of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua. Local commissioners in collaboration with the Guatemalan Army painted Organization of People in Arms and other guerrilla signs on walls, and disseminated leaflets around the village at night to support allegations and feign a guerrilla presence in the village. This continued for nearly two years until August 1982, when higher military officials intervened.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/harvestofviolenc0000unse|title=Harvest of violence the Maya indians and the Guatemalan crisis|last=Carmack|first=Robert M|date=1992|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=9780806121321|location=Norman, Oklahoma|page=119–127|oclc=902437712|url-access=registration}}

Image:San-Pedro-La-Laguna-2007.jpg|A close view of San Pedro La Laguna.

Image:San-Pedro-Market.jpg|Sunday in the San Pedro La Laguna market with Senior Pedro Gonzalez y Gonzales.

Image:San Pedro la Laguna, Guatemala.jpg|San Pedro la Laguna with Volcan San Pedro in the background.

Image:Independence_Day_Guatemala.jpg|Independence day in San Pedro La Laguna, Oct. 2007

File:San Pedro de las Bombas.avi.OGG celebration on December 8 includes lively fireworks.]]

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{{Wikivoyage|San Pedro la Laguna}}

• [https://hostales.online Website of San Pedro La Laguna]
• [http://www.vidasanpedro.blogspot.com Anthropologist's Blog about learning Tz'utujil in San Pedro La Laguna]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140108144743/http://sanpedrospanish.com/la_natiz.php Video about historic Mayan site, La Nariz, near San Pedro La Laguna]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150518100652/http://www.sanpedrospanish.com/umberto.php Demonstration of Tz'utujil Mayan Language, spoken in San Pedro la Laguna]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9lxoRzxrE Video de San Pedro La Laguna]

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Category:Municipalities of the Sololá Department

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