I spend a lot of time talking about being in Xela perhaps some history might be of interest (from a local brochure…) In Pre-Columbian times Quetzaltenango was a cityh of the Mam Mayan people called Xelajú, although by the time of the Spanish Conquest it had become part of the K’iche’ Kingdom of Q’umarkaj. The name my be derived from “Xe laju’ noj” meaning “under ten mountains.” The city was said to have already been over 300 years old when the Spanish first arrived. With the help of his allies, Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeated and killed the Maya rule Tecún in Xela. When Alvarado conquered the city for Spain in the 1520”s, he called it by the Nahuatl name used by his Central Mexican Indian allies, “Quetzaltenango,” generally considred to mean “the place of the quetzal bird.” Quetzaltenango became the city’s officla name in colonial times. However, many people continue to call the city “Xelajú” or more commonly Xela for short, and some proudly, but unofficially, consider it the “capital of the Mayas.”
From 1838 to 1840 Quetzaltenango was the capital if tge state of Los Altos, olne of the stgates or provinces of the Fedral Republic of Central America. As the union broke up, the army of Guatemala under Rafael Carrera conquered Quetzaltenango making it again part of Guatemala.
In the 19th Century coffee was introduced as a major crop in the area and the economy of Xela propered. Much of the fine Belle Epoquearchitecgture can still be found in the city.
In 1930 the only elecric railway in Guatemala, the Ferrolcarril de los Altos, was inaugurated. It had been built by AEG and Krupp and it consisted of 14 wagons. The
track connected Quetzaltenango with San Felipe Retalhuleu. It was later destroyed by mudslides and finally demolished in 1933.
