Yepocapa
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San Pedro Yepocapa Apocapa Yepocapa |
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|---|---|
| Municipality and town of Guatemala | |
 San Pedro Yepocapa
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| Coordinates: 14°30′N 90°57′W / 14.500°N 90.950°W | |
| Country |
 Guatemala
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| Department |
 Chimaltenango
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| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal |
| • Mayor (2016-2020) | Bernabé Ajín Vicente |
| Area | |
| • Total | 84 sq mi (217 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,600 ft (1,400 m) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 31,520 |
| Time zone | Central Time (UTC+6) |
| Climate | Am |
Yepocapa -also known as San Pedro Yepocapa is a municipality in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala. It is located at the bottom of Volcán de Fuego, which has destroyed the town several times, the latest on 14 October 1974.
San Pedro Yepocapa has its origins in the times before the Spanish conquest of Guatemala; originally the town was right next to Volcán de Fuego, but it had to be moved to a different location because of the numerous eruptions of it. Spanish soldier Antonio de Guzmán is credited with being the one that found the town when the conquistadors arrived in the 1520s.
After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala the town 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" (English:"Province of the most Holy Name of Jesus"), as the Franciscan area was then called, reached up to 24 convents by 1700.
The franciscans tried to have daily 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.
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Wikipedia