Jocotenango (alternate: Xocotenango; translation from Kaqchikel: "place of many plums")[3] is a town and small municipality in the northeast section of Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez,[4] and is situated north of Antigua Guatemala.
Jocotenango was initially an agricultural field, set up after the Spanish conquest by Adelantado, Pedro de Alvarado, as it was specified in his will, which read: "Called the lords and principals of the town that he had assigned to him, and ask that each one of them give him a certain number of families, and with them he created that settlement; he freed them and donated to them their land; and as the first natives who gathered there were from Utatlán, the town was called Utateca".
[6] After the destruction of the old kingdom capital on 11 September 1541, the city was moved to Panchoy valley, and the K'achik'eles decided to follow the Spaniards and settled next to Santiago Utateca, founding Jocotenango; eventually both town combined.
[7] In the 1540, bishop Francisco Marroquín split the religious administration of the Guatemalan central valley between the Order of Preachers and the Franciscans, assigned the formet the Jocotenango curato, among others.
[10] Vulnerability to natural disaster is evidenced by severe erosion to the Rio Guacalate basin, forest fires, accelerated deforestation, and floods.
This type of erosion causes loss of productive soil capacity, exposure of basement rock, and generation of landslides and mudslides.
[12] The fauna is associated with crops that predominate the area such as agouti, coyote, mouse opossum, rabbit, squirrels, white-tailed deer, and gophers.
Coffee beans are displayed in varying stages of production, antique equipment can be viewed, and as it is situated at an actual plantation, on-site tours are available.