About Xela

The historic center, the largest in the country, has several beautiful neoclassic buildings built at the end of the 18th century. Among them: La Casa de la Cultura, Casa Knoj, the Cathedral, local Municipal building, Edificio, Rivera, Banco Industrial, Pasaje Enriquez, Teatro Municipal, Cine Roma, Iglesia de San Nicolás. Most of these buildings are located in the central square, which is considered the most beautiful in Central America.

The richness of Xela is unique. It was the capital of the Mam kingdom. After losing a war with the K’iche’ people, the Mam people were forced out and it became the kingdom of the K’iche’ people. Later, in 1545 when the invader Pedro de Alvado destroyed the K’iche’ kingdom, the city was named Quetzaltenango. However, the city never lost its original name of Xelaju and today is commonly referred to as Xela. 

In 1875, the Quetzaltecos organized an insurrection against Guatemala City. The city became the capital of the Sexto Estado de los Altos. Later, in a very bloody war, Guatemala’s city army defeated the local army.

Quetzaltenango is a very progressive city with more than 11 universities and hundreds of high schools. Most of the intellectual writers in the country have been born here. For example, the author of the classical La Patria del Criollo, Severo Martínez Peláez , Jocobo Arbenz Guzman, the president that was overthrown by the CIA in 1954, Alberto Galliotti, a sculptor, Paco Parez, the author of Luna de Xelaju the second national anthem in Guatemala were born in Quetzaltenango.

The best marimba composers are from Xela: Domingo Betancourth, Jesus Castillo, the Ovalle brothers. It is also important to mention that the original marimba was modified here to follow the piano style by Sebastián Hurtado. 

Xela is a vibrant city with a very interesting history going back to several centuries and beautiful architectural buildings in the historic center. While Xela is visited by thousands of tourists every year, it sees far less traffic than Lago Atitlan and Antigua making it the perfect place for true cultural immersion while still offering some of the most iconic experiences in the country.