Country Guatemala Climate Aw | Department El Petén | |
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Flores is the capital of the Petén, Guatemala's landlocked, northernmost department (province). The population is 13,700 (2003).
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Map of Flores, Guatemala
Flores is the seat of the municipality of Flores (population 22,600).
Its Catedral Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios y San Pablo Itzá is the cathedral episcopal see of the Apostolic Vicariate of El Petén (formerly a territorial prelature).
The old part of the city is located on an island on Lake Peten Itza, connected to the mainland by a short causeway. On the mainland is the suburb Santa Elena and, to the West, a contiguous municipality San Benito.
History
In Pre-Columbian times, Flores was the Maya city of Nojpetén.
Tayasal
The Itza left the Yucatán region in the 13th century and built the city later known as Tayasal as their capital. They called it Noh (Nohoch) Petén, literally "City Island". It was also called Tah Itzá, or 'Place of the Itzá'.
It was here, on the island of Flores on the shore of Lake Petén Itzá, that the last independent Maya state held out against the Spanish conquerors. In 1541, Hernán Cortés came to the island, en route to Honduras, but needed to move on and did not try to conquer it.
The Spanish did not manage to conquer the island until 1697, when they marched in, attacked via boats, and destroyed it. Those who could flee did so, and many Itzá people hid in the jungle for years. From the ruins of Noh Petén arose the modern city of Flores.
Transportation
Flores is served by Mundo Maya International Airport. Several international flights land here but most stop first at Guatemala City's La Aurora International Airport. The Island is also very well connected by bus, with many companies running overnight buses to Guatemala City
Flores in the 19th century
The first photographs ever made from Flores where those taken by engineer Claudio Urrutia in 1897, when he was in charge of the Guatemala-Mexico Border Commission.