The volcano Tacaná is the second highest peak in Central America at 4,060 metres (13,320 ft), located in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas of northern Guatemala and southern Mexico . It is also known in Mexico as Volcán Tacina .
18-765: The volcano is located within the Tacaná municipality of the San Marcos Department in Guatemala; and within the Cacahoatán and Unión Juárez Municipalities of Chiapas state in Mexico. Its last known eruption was registered in 1986 — a small phreatic eruption in May — but it is still considered as dangerous to more than 250,000 people residing in the area. Tacaná is the first of hundreds of volcanoes in
36-622: A 1,500 km (930 mi) km row, arranged NW to SE, parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast of Central America , known as the Central America Volcanic Arc , formed by an active subduction zone along the western boundary of the Caribbean Plate . The agricultural valley at its NNE foothills is covered with thick deposits of lahars . From its headwaters in Guatemala, the valley drains through Mexico to
54-476: Is thought to have died in Sonsonate in 1700. The Recordación Florida , also called Historia de Guatemala ( History of Guatemala ), is Fuentes y Guzmán's only surviving work. It was the first Guatemalan history book written by a colonial Guatemalan author of Spanish descent. The first portion of the work, comprising the first sixteen books, was written by 1690. Fuentes y Guzmán sent it to Spain in apparently
72-525: The Central American Core volcanic chain, which contains fragile ecosystems and rich biodiversity of cultural, scientific, economic and biological relevance, particularly in the high mountain ecosystem. Its landscapes and volcanic edifice present geophysical features of great scientific and aesthetic value. Consequently, it has been included in UNESCO 's World Network of Biosphere Reserves of
90-576: The Central American Volcanic Arch including Tajumulco are visible from the summit. Tacan%C3%A1 Tacaná is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of San Marcos . In 1690, Tejutla had a large area and included the modern municipalities of Comitancillo , Ixchiguán , Concepción Tutuapa , Sipacapa , Sibinal , Tajumulco , Tacaná and part of what is now San Miguel Ixtahuacán . According to
108-661: The Man and Biosphere Program (MAB). The summit of Tacaná can be reached in about 10 hours. There are two approaches to the mountain. One is from Finca Navidad, south of the volcano, passing through Tojquián Grande, on the Guatemalan side, and moving parallel to the border with Mexico. The second route is from the Mexican side, from El Carmen, Talismán bridge, Cacahoatán, and Unión Juárez by vehicle, and from there on foot. This route crosses into Guatemala and has been described as one of
126-403: The Pacific Ocean. Consequently, mudflows from future eruptions could be dangerous to those in their path in both countries. Tacaná is a stratovolcano (composite volcano) that is surrounded by deeply dissected plutonic and metamorphic terrain. It has a 9 km (5.6 mi) wide caldera , with its elongated summit dominated by several lava domes and three large calderas breached to
144-582: The age of eighteen, Fuentes y Guzmán was given the position of Regidor Perpetuo de Guatemala (permanent councillor on the town council of Santiago). At various times he served as magistrate ( alcalde ) in Santiago, and was later the alcalde mayor of Totonicapán , and then of Sonsonate . He worked many years as the Cronista del Ayuntamiento (Chronicler of the Municipal Government). He
162-472: The area. The Central American United Provinces constitution from 11 October 1821, showed Tejutla under modern San Marcos jurisdiction for the very first time. In 1870 Tejutla reached "Villa" category and, due to its development, its authorities requested to the House of Representatives of Guatemala to be named a Department capital. The department was going to have the municipalities mentioned above, along with
180-400: The conservatives led by Field Marshal Vicente Cerna were defeated by the liberal forces of generals Miguel Garcia Granados and Justo Rufino Barrios −who was a San Lorenzo native; once the liberals were in power, the expelled the regular clergy from Guatemala and abolished mandatory tithing for the secular clergy , leaving Tejutla without their main administrative and leadership support,
198-411: The curato. In fact, Barrios government confiscated monasteries, large extensions of farm land, sugar mills and Indian doctrines from regular orders and then distributed it to his liberal friend and comrades, who became large landowners in the area. Tacaná has temperate climate ( Köppen : Cwb ). Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzm%C3%A1n Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán (1643–1700)
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#1732773112673216-472: The historical writings from Recordación Florida of Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán , Tejutla belonged to Quetzaltenango Department and it was a "prosperous land with rich weathers and comfortable forest with enough water". Tejutla was an important commercial and religious center; in August 1767, Joseph Domingo Hidalgo described Santiago Tejutla as "El Curato" -i.e., the focal center of commerce of all
234-646: The modern municipalities of Cuilco , Santa Bárbara and San Gaspar, Huehuetenango, from the modern Huehuetenango Department . Besides, in those days, Motocintla , Cacahuatán and Tapachula —which would go definitively to México in 1892 due to the Herrera-Mariscal treaty — were under the jurisdiction of the Mercedarian convent located in Tejutla. Furthermore, Tejutla even had House representatives of its own in those days. But power shifted when
252-470: The most interesting hikes in Central America, leading up winding paths through lush rainforests, subsistence farming villages, up ancient magma flows, and rock-filled temperate forests before reaching the top of the lowest caldera. From there the final stretch to the summit provides panoramic views high above the clouds as the tree-line gradually diminishes with altitude. Several major volcanos within
270-539: The south. Mild phreatic eruptions of Tacaná took place in historical times. Its most powerful known explosive activity, which included pyroclastic flows , occurred at about 70 AD (± 100 years). That large explosion has resulted in Tacaná being classified with a volcanic explosivity index of 4 by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History 's Global Volcanism Program . Tacaná is part of
288-498: The towns that were around it− in the Gaceta de Guatemala , the official newspaper of the times. Then, in the last quarter of the 18th century, bishop Dr. Pedro Cortés y Larraz , who arrived from Cuilco in 1770 as part of the inspection he was doing of the Guatemalan dioceses, called Tejutla "Santiago en la Cima del Monte" (English: Santiago at the top of the hill" and reported that there were "sixty four families who lived very well" in
306-539: The vain hope of being named as Chronicler of the Kingdom of Guatemala . He continued writing the work, with the addition of a seventeenth book to the first part, and a second part comprising 14 more books. The Recordación Florida regarded as one of the most important works of Guatemalan history. In the book, he describes the customs and rites of indigenous people, the Spanish conquest of Guatemala , and notable facts in
324-614: Was a Guatemalan criollo historian and poet. His only surviving work is the Recordación Florida . Fuentes y Guzmán was born to a wealthy family in Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (modern Antigua Guatemala ) in 1643. He was the great-great-grandson of the conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo , historian of the Indies. Fuentes y Guzmán was a nobleman and a member of the ruling criollo caste . In 1661, at
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