Atitlan

A lake in the Solola Department in the central highlands of southwestern
Guatemala, where Quiche-Maya Civilization reached its florescence. Atitlan
was named after its volcano surrounded by lofty mountains, a setting that could
pass for a scene from Plato’s description of the island of Atlantis in Kritias.
Blackett describes Atitlan as “the large and rich capital, court of the native
kings of Quiche and the most sumptuous found by the Spaniards.” The lake’s
name was apparently chosen to match its appropriately Atlantean environment;
this, together with its obvious derivation from “Atlantis,” and the extraordinary
splendor of its culture, identify Atitlan’s foundation by Atlantean colonizers.