Xe laju' noj" meaning "under ten mountains"
The city was said to have already been over 300 years old when the Spanish first arrived. With the help of his allies, Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado defeated and killed the Maya ruler Tecún Umán here. When Alvarado conquered the city for Spain in the 1520s, he called it by the Nahuatl name used by his Central Mexican Indian allies, "Quetzaltenango", generally considered to mean "the place of the quetzal bird." (our money is called Queztals). Quetzaltenango became the city's official name in colonial times. However, many people (especially, but not only, the indigenous population) continue to call the city "Xelajú" (pronounced shay-lah-WHO) or more commonly Xela for short, and some proudly, but unofficially, consider it the "Capital of the Mayas".
Xela, the center of Quetzaltenango is perhaps the most visited tourist destination in Guatemala besides Antigua Guatemala and Tikal in Peten, and preferred by many as the number one choice to learn Spanish.
There are two main seasons in Quetzaltenango: the rainy season, which generally runs from May through mid-November, and the dry season, which runs from December until May. During the rainy season, rain falls consistently, usually in the afternoons. During the dry season, the city frequently will not receive a single drop of rain for months on end. From December through February, the days are quite warm, but the temperature drops dramatically during the nights. Heating nor air conditioning are provided in the homes.
Located in a mountain valley located high up in the Sierra Madre mountains at 2,333 (7,655 ft) meters above sea level, 200km west of Guatemala City, and only a 1 hour drive to the tropical pacific coast. It has an estimated population of 300,000. The population is about 65% indigenous or Amerindian, 32% Mestizoor ladino, and 3% European.
Xela Ju is the 2nd most successful soccer team in the Guatemala.
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