Antigua Guatemala, commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architecture and layout dating from that period. These characteristics had it designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Antigua Guatemala serves as the capital of the homonymous municipality and the Sacatepéquez Department.
Esquipulas, officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas, is a town, with a population of 18,667, and a municipality located in the department of Chiquimula, in eastern Guatemala. Esquipulas' main attraction is the beautiful Black Christ located in the Basilica of Esquipulas, making the town an important place of Catholic pilgrimage for Central America. It is also one of the most important towns of the country and one that has had the most economic and cultural growth.
Volcán de Fuego or Chi Q'aq' is an active stratovolcano in Guatemala, on the borders of Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez departments.
Jocotenango is a town and small municipality in the northeast section of Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez, and is situated north of Antigua Guatemala. It has seven zones, two villages, and one hamlet. According to the 2018 census, the municipality has a total population of 21,657 of which 1,680 are native population and the balance are non-indigenous; and approximately 19,280 live in an urban area, while the balance are rural dwellers.
San Martín Jilotepeque is a town, with a population of 10,812, and a municipality in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala. It was the site of a bus accident in 2013.
The 1717 Guatemala earthquake struck colonial Guatemala on September 29 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.4, and a Mercalli intensity of approximately IX (Violent). The earthquake essentially destroyed much of the architecture of Antigua Guatemala, which was the colonial capital of Central America at the time. Over 3,000 buildings were ruined including many temples and churches. Such was the effect of the disaster that the authorities considered moving the headquarters to a settlement which was less prone to natural disasters.
The Río Los Esclavos is a river in southern Guatemala. Its sources are in the mountains in the southeast of the department of Santa Rosa. From there it flows past the town of Cuilapa through the coastal plains of Santa Rosa into the Laguna de Sipacate and then into the Pacific Ocean.
Santo Domingo Church and Monastery is a ruined monastery in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. Its history can be traced back to 1538 when the Dominicans arrived in Guatemala. It had two towers with ten bells and the monastery was filled with treasures. The monastery was destroyed in the 1773 Santa Marta earthquake. Today, part of the ruins have been transformed into a hotel, the Hotel Casa Santo Domingo.
San Francisco el Grande is a church in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala and one of the sanctuaries most frequented by the local population because of the shrine of Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur.
Parish of San José, located in the city of Antigua Guatemala, is part of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala and is located in a section of the old Primate Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala, which was destroyed by the 1773 Guatemala earthquakes. The first construction of the cathedral began in 1545 with the rubble brought from the destroyed settlement in the Almolonga Valley, which had been a second attempt to found a town in the region. Its complete construction was hampered by frequent earthquakes over the years. On April 7, 1669, the temple was demolished and a second sanctuary would be inaugurated in 1680 under the direction of Juan Pascual and José de Porres, there is also evidence that the Spanish engineer and image maker Martín de Andújar Cantos worked on its reconstruction.
The Church and Convent of La Merced is a Catholic church located in the city of Antigua Guatemala in Guatemala. The architect Juan de Dios Estrada was in charge of its construction from 1749. The church was inaugurated in 1767.
The Iglesia y Convento de las Capuchinas is a notable convent and church in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. It is one of the finest examples of an 18th-century convent in Guatemala. It was consecrated in 1736 but like the rest of the city suffered damage during the 1751 and 1773 earthquakes respectively, and was abandoned by order of the Captain General at the time.
The Holy Church Cathedral Metropolitan Basilica of Santiago de Guatemala also Metropolitan Cathedral, officially Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago, is the main church of Guatemala City and of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. It is located at the Parque Central in the center of the city. Its massive structure incorporates baroque and classical elements and has withstood numerous earthquakes. Damage by the devastating earthquakes of 1917 and 1976 has been repaired. The inside of the cathedral is relatively sparsely decorated but impresses by its size and its structural strength. The altars are ornate and decorative. In front of the cathedral stand a series of 12 pillars, solemnly remembering the names of thousands of people forcibly disappeared or murdered during the counterinsurgency violence of Guatemala's internal armed conflict, which began in 1960 and lasted until the final peace accord was signed in 1996.
La Recolección Architectural Complex is a former church and monastery of the Order of the Recollects and its adjacent park in Antigua, Guatemala. It is in the western part of the old city.
Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala was the name given to the capital city of the Spanish colonial Captaincy General of Guatemala in Central America.
The Church and convent of the Society of Jesus in Antigua Guatemala is a religious complex that was built between 1690 and 1698. It was built on a block that is only 325 yards (300 m) away from the Cathedral of Saint James on a lot that once belonged to the family of famous chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo and had three monastery wings and a church. There were only a maximum of 13 Jesuit priest at any given time in the building, but they also hosted Jesuit brothers and secular students. In the building was the San Lucas School of the Society of Jesus, until the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies in 1767.
The Captain General Palace, or Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, is a large building localed in the Central Square of Antigua Guatemala. It serves as the headquarters of the Guatemala Institute of Tourism, the Antigua Tourism Association, National Police and the Sacatepquez Department government. It also houses the National Museum of Guatemalan Art.
Pedro Cortés y Larraz was Archbishop of Guatemala between 1767 and 1779 and bishop of Tortosa between 1780 and 1786.
Human settlement on the present site of Guatemala City began with the Maya who built a city at Kaminaljuyu. The Spanish colonists established a small town, which was made a capital city in 1775. At this period the Central Square with the Cathedral and Royal Palace were constructed. After Central American independence from Spain the city became the capital of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821.
