San Lucas Tolimán is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. The town of 17,000 people sits on the southeastern shore of Lago de Atitlán. The population is 90–95% Highland Maya. There is a population of about the same size living in the surrounding villages. At altitude the town offers "eternal spring" with annual temperatures ranging from 50–80 degrees F. The dry season runs from November through June/July and the rainy season runs the other six months. The area is free of malaria due to its elevation. The area's elevation ranges from along the lake to at the summit of Volcán Tolimán. Volcán Tolimán is just west of town.
History
Spanish colony
After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, San Lucas Tolimán was part of the Tecpán Atitlán "corregimiento" and when it turned into a major municipality in 1730, it became part of it as well; regarding the Catholic faith, this was in charge of the franciscans, who had convents and doctrines in the area covered by the modern departaments of Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Sololá, Quetzaltenango, Totonicapán, Suchitepéquez and Escuintla. The "Provincia del Santísimo Nombre de Jesús", as the Franciscan area was then called, reached up to 24 convents. In 1586, friar Alonso Ponce refers to San Lucas Tolimán as "little town". Under franciscan tenure, both in the Santiago Atitlán convent town as in the native towns in its annexed doctrines —such as San Lucas Tolimán—, there was religious teaching for 6 year old girls and older starting at 2:00 pm and for boys of the same age starting at sunset; the class lasted for 2 hours and consisted on memorizing the church teaching and prayers and to make some exercises with the catechism and it was run by a priest or by elder natives, called "fiscales". Adults attended Mass every Sunday and holiday and after mass, there were religious teachings in their own language. Lent was a time of the year when the friars prepared the natives thoroughly, using their own language to accomplish their goals; every Friday of Lent there was a procession following the Rosary steps all the way to the Calvary temple. In 1754, as part of the borbon reforms, the Franciscans where forced to, give their doctrines to the secular clergy; thus, when archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz visited Panajachel in 1770, he described it as a member of the "Santiago Atitlan parish".
After independence from Spain
The town was elevated to municipality category on 2 September 1877, during the liberal regime of general Justo Rufino Barrios.
On 13 October 2015, the Santiago Atitlán Courthouse issued a warrant for the arrest of the still mayor of San Lucas Tolimán, Oscar Pic Solís, for several charges; municipality secretary, Gaspar Cholotió Hernández, and treasurer, Alberto Cumes Cali were also arrested. Pic Solis had been mayor since 2007, with the Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza party, but he was not re-elected in the 2015 elections.
Territory
San Lucas Tolimán has an area of 116 km² and is divided as follows:
