Santa Catarina Pinula Facts for Kids

Santa Catarina: the name of it saint patron Catherine of Alexandria
Pinula: from pipil "Flour of water" ("Pinul": Flour of Pinole and "Ha": Water). This may come from the Mexican natives who came alongside Alvarado's forces.

History

The town was originally a native settlement called Pankaj, or Pinola, whose inhabitants presented a strong defense to the conquistadors from Pedro de Alvarado, until they had to finally surrender to the Spanish invaders at the fortified position of Jalpatagua, where they were withdrawn along with the Petapa natives.

Spanish colony

After the Spanish conquest, a town was founded in place of the old native settlement. It soon became one of the most notable settlements in the area, eventually serving as a curato headquarters for the Order of Preachers, which in turn was under the jurisdiction of the Amatitlán convent.

Order of Preachers doctrines and curatos in the Capitanía General of Guatemala in 1638
Convento	Doctrinas	Convento	Doctrinas
Guatemala	Chimaltenango Jocotenango Sumpango San Juan Sacatepéquez San Pedro Sacatepéquez Santiago Sacatepéquez Rabinal San Martín Jilotepeque Escuintla Milpas Altas Milpas Bajas San Lucas Sacatepéquez Barrio de Santo Domingo	Amatitlán	Amatitlán Petapa Mixco San Cristóbal
		Verapaz	Cahabón Cobán Chamelco San Cristóbal Tactic
		Sonsonate	Nahuizalco Tacuxcalco
San Salvador	Apastepeque Chontales Cojutepeque Cuscatlán Milpas Bajas Tonacatepeque	Sacapulas	Sacapulas Cunén Nebaj Santa Cruz San Andrés Sajcabajá Zacualpa Chichicastenango

In 1690, when Fuentes y Guzmán wrote Recordación Florida the town was prosperous and its agriculture was booming, but it was not as well to do if its silver mines had been exploited. Fuentes y Guzmán told the story that, when the church was being built, the workers found a thick silver lining, but they rushed to hide it from the Spaniards, so the latter could not use it.

In 1754, due to a Royal Decree, all the doctrines and curatos still belonging to regular orders were transferred to the secular clergy authorities.

El Cambray II tragedy: 2015

On the night of 1 October 2015 and following several days of heavy rains, a hill collapsed causing a mudslide that destroyed El Cambray II settlement, leaving behind hundreds of missing people, according to the first official reports. Besides, there were nine confirmed deaths, 34 injured and up to 65 displaced on more than 100 destroyed homes. After the landslide, the area was in Code Red.

Administrative organization

Santa Catarina Pinula as seen from the Inter American Highway.

The region has a municipal capital (Santa Catarina Pinula), fifteen villages and seven settlements.

Santa Catarina Pinula administrative division

Division	Name
Villages	Cuchilla del Carmen
	El Carmen
	Salvadora I
	Salvadora II
	El Pueblito
	Nueva Concepción
	Puerta Parada
	Piedra Parada Cristo Rey
	Piedra Parada El Rosario
	San José El Manzano
	Laguna Bermeja
	El Pajón
	Manzano La Libertad
	Don Justo
	Canchón

Subdivisión	Nombre
Settlements	Trapichito
	Pepe Nance
	Cambray I
	Cambray II
	El Zarzal
	Los Cipreses
	Laguneta

Climate

Santa Catarina Pinula has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb).

Climate data for Santa Catarina Pinula
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	23.5 (74.3)	24.7 (76.5)	26.1 (79.0)	26.7 (80.1)	26.2 (79.2)	24.4 (75.9)	24.4 (75.9)	24.8 (76.6)	24.2 (75.6)	23.6 (74.5)	23.2 (73.8)	23.2 (73.8)	24.6 (76.3)
Daily mean °C (°F)	17.7 (63.9)	18.5 (65.3)	19.6 (67.3)	20.5 (68.9)	20.6 (69.1)	19.9 (67.8)	19.8 (67.6)	19.9 (67.8)	19.6 (67.3)	19.1 (66.4)	18.3 (64.9)	17.8 (64.0)	19.3 (66.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	12.0 (53.6)	12.3 (54.1)	13.2 (55.8)	14.3 (57.7)	15.1 (59.2)	15.5 (59.9)	15.3 (59.5)	15.1 (59.2)	15.1 (59.2)	14.7 (58.5)	13.4 (56.1)	12.4 (54.3)	14.0 (57.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	3 (0.1)	2 (0.1)	6 (0.2)	27 (1.1)	155 (6.1)	270 (10.6)	234 (9.2)	186 (7.3)	249 (9.8)	157 (6.2)	30 (1.2)	7 (0.3)	1,326 (52.2)
Source: Climate-Data.org