2 Best Sights in Santiago Atitlan, The Highlands

The main road leads to the squat white 1547 Iglesia de Santiago Apóstol, the church dedicated to town patron, St. James the Apostle, but where Tzutuhil deities can be seen in the woodwork around the pulpit. Fondly remembered onetime American parish priest Father Stanley Rother was assassinated in the church rectory by right-wing death squads in 1981 for his outspoken support of the Tzutuhil cause.

On the road west to San Pedro, Parque de la Paz commemorates 11 Tzutuhil people, including several children, who were killed when the army open fired on a peaceful demonstration that protested the military presence here. The memorial is a sober reminder of Guatemala's tortured past.