Guatemala's Alta Verapaz region is a treasure trove of silver jewelry!
Alta Verapaz is the green heart of Guatemala - the high-mountain, cloud-forest jungle region of howler monkeys, jaguars, and the Plumed Serpent - the quetzal, regal national bird of Guatemala. Alta Verapaz is largely populated by K'ekchi Mayan Indians, part of an ancient culture which reached the highest level of civilization with its astronomical, mathematical, artistic, and cultural knowledge.
The Alta Verapaz region is proud of its handicrafts, such as its intricately designed, handwoven, white-on-white guipiles (women's ceremonial blouses). The traditional music and musical instruments of the Verapaz are also an integral part of the region's cultural heritage. But perhaps the most famous art characteristically considered Verapacense is region's hand-wrought silver jewelry which is justly famous throughout Guatemala. There are small joyerias, or jewelry shops, in San Pedro Carcha as well as in the regional capital of Coban, which specialize in the traditional regional jewelry designs. Mayan women traditionally dress up with silver necklaces fashioned from silver and coral beads and silver-plated coins, strung together with wrought silver wire.
Mayan women reserve their very best clothing and jewelry for the traditional ceremonial processions on Good Friday. After mass is said, the pall-bearers carrying the palanquin with Jesus bent beneath the cross exits from the cathedral in Coban. The procession, headed by priests wafting censors of fragrant copal pom incense, winds through the streets covered with colorful sawdust carpets with variegated stenciled designs. These lovingly laid-out carpets are made the night before by Cobaneros and visitors; and they are destroyed by the passage of the palanquin and its attendants. The procession eventually wends its way up to the Calvario church on the hilltop in the town's center. The streets along both sides of the procession route are lined by crowds of Mayans dressed-up in their finery.
A well-dressed Mayan woman will not only wear her most elaborate chains of necklaces over her intricately woven guipil (blouse) and her best footloom-woven corte (long wraparound skirt); but she will also dress up with earrings of wrought silver and variegated quartz crystals. Married Mayan women wear specially-designed rings of handsomely wrought silver to proclaim their status in the community.
Other well-known Verapaz jewelry is typified by the Mayan women's arm and wrist ornaments such as bracelets fashioned from bright red coral beads. Even babies are given bright red coral bracelets to wear. Other types of bracelets are made of silver, such as silver balls and coins strung together with silver wire.
Typical silver jewelry from the Alta Verapaz region can be seen at Coban's distinctive jewelry shops. There are several of these in the Plaza Magdelena shopping mall on Coban's western end. Other traditional jewelry stores in Coban include:
Joyeria Recuerdos - 3a Ave. 1-24 Zona 3 - tel: 7951-3554
Joyeria Monja Blanca - 4a Calle 3-12 Zona 2 - tel: 7951-0559
Mar de Plata - 3a Ave. 2-07 Zona 4 - tel: 7951-2409
Joyeria Aurum - 1a Calle 1-24 Zona 4, local 1-B - tel: 7951-1455
Joyeria Coy Hun - 2a Ave. 3-27 Zona 2 - tel: 7952-1276
Joyeria Bizantina - 1a Calle 15-20 Zona 2 - tel: 7951-3812
