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The
Chichicastenango Regional Museum or
Museo Regional is a museum in
ChichicastenangoChichicastenango, also known as Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, is a town in the El Quiché department of Guatemala, known for its traditional K'iche' Maya culture. The Spanish conquistadors gave the town its name from the Nahuatl name used by their soldiers from Tlaxcala: Tzitzicaztenanco, or City...
,
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. It is located at the
Iglesia de Santo TomásThe Iglesia de Santo Tomás is a Roman Catholic church in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. It is located in the market place of the town which is known for its pottery and contains the Chichicastenango Regional Museum. It was built around 1545 atop a Pre-Columbian temple platform, and the steps...
and has a number of noted ancient artifacts in jade, stone, and ceramic. Some of the clay figurines and ancient clay pots dat back to 1200. It also contains a number of
obsidianObsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy...
spear and arrow heads found in the area.
The museum is often called
Museo Arqueológico Rossbach because a significant part of the collection was donated by Idelfonso Rossbach, a German
FranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
priest who served in the town from 1894-1944.