GUATEMALA: ANTIGUA

Antigua Guatemala or "the Most Noble and Loyal City of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala" as it was entitled by Spanish royal decree, represents the 'colonial' past of the country. Antigua is among the oldest and most beautiful cities in the Americas. Set amidst three magnificent volcanoes Agua, Fuego and Acatenango its superb yet sturdy colonial buildings have weathered 16 earthquakes and numerous floods and fires. The city of Santiago de los Caballeros, known today as Antigua, was founded in the Valley of Panchoy and became the third capital in the New World following only those of Mexico and Peru. Antigua today is a beautiful colonial city where time has stopped. Walk the cobblestone streets, let the aura of its history permeate your mind and soul. The opulent, baroque buildings are elaborately decorated. Some of the building elements, although beautiful, are also utilitarian, such as the low, wide columns which were necessary to withstand earthquakes. Standing in mute testimony to times long past are the Palace of the Captains General, the City Hall, the Cathedral, the churches and monasteries of Las Merced, Capuchinas and Santa Clara. In the middle of the 18th Century the School of Santo Tomas was founded and later became the University of San Carlos de Borromeo, third in America. 

Today, the city remains one of Guatemala’s most popular attractions. With some of the nation’s most prestigious museums and the site of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial art and architecture in the Americas, La Antigua has been declared a "Monument of the Americas" by the Pan American Institute of History and Geography in 1942. The magnificent ruins of La Antigua’s cathedrals, convents, plazas and stately homes remain as outstanding reminders of 16th and 17th century Guatemala with the government buildings surrounding the Plaza de Armas at the center of the city.  They include the palace of the Captain General built in 1764 to house the Royal Mint, Treasury, courts, and official reception areas.Across the park is the old City Hall (Palacio del Ayuntamiento)which housed the city jail and town council during colonial times, and is now a museum. Nearby are the ruins of the Cathedral and archbishop’s palace completed in 1680. La Merced Church with its white stone work, has survived a number of earthquakes and remains unchanged since 1773. The ruins of San Francisco Church built by the Franciscans late in the 16th century houses elaborate frescoes, paintings and statues. The Convent of the Capuchinas, one of La Antigua’s best preserved structures, was once a center of study and meditation for the nuns who lived there, while the University of San Carlos, which opened in 1681, has been a museum of colonial art since 1936, its cloistered arcade is the most elaborate in La Antigua.