Cobán

In the early colonial period the hills of what became the Verapaz were known to the Spanish as Tezulutlán, the "land of war". In 1537 Bartolomé de las Casas won an agreement that its peoples, once brought into the empire, would not be handed out to settlers as forced labour, and Dominican friars set out to convert them peacefully. The church at Cobán, begun in 1543, became the centre of their mission; the town took its name from a local ruler, and in 1547 the region's name was officially changed to Vera Paz, "true peace". The emperor Charles V granted Cobán the title of imperial city, and in 1599 it became the seat of a bishop.

By 1850 Cobán had about 12,000 people. In the late 19th century liberal governments offered generous concessions to German settlers, who built a coffee economy around the city and ran it as an almost separate world, with a German club founded in 1888, a German school from 1935 and about 2,000 Germans by 1930. They built the Verapaz railway, which linked the coffee region with Lake Izabal from 1895 until 1963, and in 1898 Cobán was reported to be the third-largest city in Guatemala.

In 1941, under pressure from the United States, the government of Jorge Ubico expelled the Germans; many were interned in camps in Texas. A sizeable population of German descent remains, largely absorbed through intermarriage, and German touches survive in the city's architecture. In 1970 Cobán was included in the Franja Transversal del Norte, the zone opened up for agricultural development, and the expansion of oil palm in the 21st century has reached the municipality.

Q'eqchi' Maya people are the majority, and the language is widely heard in the streets, above all in the markets where farmers from the surrounding hills sell their produce. The Rabin Ajaw, held at the end of July, is considered the largest and most important Maya festival in Guatemala: Indigenous women from across the country compete for the title of Rabin Ajaw, "daughter of the king" in Q'eqchi', amid fireworks and processions in traditional dress. The departmental fair begins on the last Sunday of July, and the city's patron, Saint Dominic, is honoured on 4 August.

The city's German past is still visible in its buildings and families, and its coffee is part of its identity. Orchids are another: the hills around Cobán are rich in them, the rare white monja blanca is the symbol of Alta Verapaz, and an international orchid exhibition is held each November.

Sport has a loyal following. Cobán Imperial, nicknamed the Blue Princes, is one of Guatemala's traditional football clubs and won its first league title in 2004, playing at the Estadio Verapaz, and the city is also known for basketball, with strong youth leagues. Each May, about 4,000 runners come for the international half marathon.

The 2018 census counted about 212,000 people in the municipality of Cobán, which covers almost 2,000 km² of hills and forest. The city is the capital of Alta Verapaz and a central city of northern Guatemala, the place where goods from Quetzaltenango and the capital are distributed across the department, and it sits at the heart of a major coffee-growing area that also produces cardamom.

The day starts with the arrival of workers and traders from the surrounding villages, who come into town in the morning and leave in the afternoon. The markets, the minibuses around Plaza Magdalena and the bus terminals are busiest early, and the centre quietens in the evening under the drizzle. Shopping centres such as Plaza Magdalena sit alongside the traditional markets.

In the countryside coffee and cardamom are the crops that provide the most work, many Q'eqchi' families still depend on their maize fields for food, and oil palm plantations have spread into the municipality in the 21st century.

Kak'ik, typical of Guatemalan cuisine, is a spicy red turkey soup whose name comes from the Q'eqchi' words for "red" and "hot". The Verapaz recipe uses turkey with garlic, onion, mint, coriander and culantro, coloured with ground annatto, and it is usually served with rice, white tamales wrapped in leaves, chilli and a cocoa drink. It was declared part of Guatemala's intangible cultural heritage in 2007.

Coffee built Cobán, and the coffee of the Verapaz hills, grown since the German planters' time, is poured in cafés around the centre. The Cobán region is also one of the cardamom-growing areas of Guatemala, the world's largest producer, and most of the crop is exported; the markets sell spices, tamales steamed in leaves, fruit and vegetables brought in from the surrounding villages.

Everyday eating follows the rest of Guatemala and is built on maize, with comedores near the market and grills and family restaurants in the centre. Cantinas serve cheap beer and spirits, and restaurants offer wine, beer and a few locally known cocktails.