Antigua

We just spent a few days in a town called Antigua (which is short for "Antigua Guatemala"—Old Guatemala, as opposed to "New Guatemala" City). It is a lovely spot—so thinks the UN (it was declared a World Heritage site in 1979) and about 15,000 other gringos that crawl the streets. Yes, it is a bit on the touristy side which means lots and lots of trinkets and gringo food for sale, and more capuccino machines than you can shake a biscotti at.

The city was virtually destroyed in 1773, and many monumental buildings remain in ruins—ruins that have been sitting there for over 200 years. The combination of picture-perfect historical "tradition" and the tourist hoards really makes you wonder about the whole authenticity thing (again). But if this is Guatemala a la Disney, it's very well done!

A rooftop and some typical local/tourist interaction:



Here is a 4-way shot at a typical (but by no means spectacular) Antigua intersection.


Founded in 1543, Antigua was the administrative capital of a large portion of Spanish Mesoamerica (including modern Chiapas, part of Yucatán, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) for some 200 years, so it was a major centre in the Empire.

Unfortunately, the people who chose temperate Ottawa as the Canadian capital must have had a hand in picking this spot: Antigua is located immediate adjacent to several active volcanoes that basically wiped the city out several times. (Antigua was actually spot #2—the first capital was wiped out by a flood in 1541) After the 1773 quake they gave up, packed up the old kit bag, and left for current Guatemala city.