Atitlan Lake

There is a fabulously beautiful Atitlan Lake in the mountains of Guatemala, more than 3 000 000 meters above the sea. Geologists say that 15 million years ago, three volcanoes – Atitlan, San Pedro and Toliman – appeared there. Around 100,000 years ago during the eruption of one of them, a mountain lake appeared. The eruption was so powerful that it destroyed the life in the area where today Guatemala is.

From of old the tribes of Indians, who wore bright clothes, lived on the shores of this wonder of nature. The culture of lake residents differed from cultures of other Indians of Guatemala. Atitlanians especially esteemed the giant Cabracan – the goddess of earthquakes that could uproot the forest, scour the city, and strike a fire to burn the ground. Each tribe of the lake wore their clothes colors. They range from rich blue to crimson.

Atitlan is the deepest lake in Central America, it reaches a depth of 340 meters.

The beautiful legend about a metis girl of low origin which felt in love with a young man of noble birth is concerned with this lake. To bewitch him, the girl had to go to bed in a man's costume of "righteous" for seven nights. Elite young men wore these costumes on day of Holy Carmen. For seven nights the sweat of a girl was steeping in menswear. Before the giving of the costume to her lover, she had to see herself in the full-length mirror. A metis girl didn’t have one. In the night before the holiday she wore the costume designed for a noble young man, and went to the lake to look at her in its mirror smooth. The girl climbed on basalt boulder at the shore, but could not hold out. Unhappy girl drowned. And now when it’s the rain and the moon is full, the deceased girl appears in the mirror of the lake. Locals say that it all is true.