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Central Guatemala
Those visitors from overseas not landing at the international airport at Flores (for connections to Tikal) land at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City. Other than being the primary urban centre in the country, Guatemala City is ideally positioned for visitors wishing to make the short journey by road to La Antigua Guatemala, situated 45km (28 miles away).
GUATEMALA CITY: There were three attempts to establish a capital before Guatemala City was founded in 1775. The first colonial settlement called Santiago de los Caballeros Guatemala was built in 1524 by the conquistador, Pedro de Alvarado close to the Cakchiquel settlement of Iximché (near the present day town of Tecpán – see Iximché under The Highlands section). After continuing battles with the Cakchiquel warriors, the capital was relocated in 1527 to the Almolonga Valley, near present-day San Miguel Escobar, between the volcanoes Agua and Fuego until an earthquake destroyed it in 1541. A third capital was then established just a few kilometres away on the present site of La Antigua Guatemala in the Panchoy Valley (see the Antigua section below). Established as the new city in 1543, it was decided to retain the name of Santiago while the former (second) capital was referred to as Ciudad Vieja or Old City. The new capital grew in wealth, size and prestige, surviving a number of earthquakes until 1773, when it was hit by a huge earthquake and eventually abandoned. The capital moved to its present location while the former capital was known was thereafter known as La Antigua Guatemala or Old Guatemala.
The capital, Guatemala City lies at the edge of a plateau cut by deep ravines in the Valley of the Hermitage. Few colonial buildings remain but the old quarter, with its low colonial houses, is situated in the northern part of the city. The main plaza, Parque Central lies at its heart and is bordered by the National Palace, the Cathedral, the National Library and an arcade of shops. In the south of the city, close to the airport and the national racecourse, are Parque La Aurora, which contains the zoo, the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Ixchel Museum, housing a good collection of handwoven textiles. Other museums with fine collections include the Popol Vuh Museum (a private collection of Mayan and Spanish colonial art) and the National Museum of Modern Art. Some of the most interesting religious buildings (mainly either neo-classical or Baroque) include the 17th-century Hermitage of El Carmen and the churches of La Merced, Santo Domingo, Santuario Expiatorio, Las Capuchinas, Santa Rosa and Capilla de Yurrita (built in the first half of the 20th century).
LA ANTIGUA GUATEMALA: The former capital (originally called Santiago de los Caballeros Guatemala), Antigua is situated southwest of Guatemala City, and was considered to be one of the most splendid cities in Central America before its partial destruction in the earthquake of 1773. Further devastation to many buildings was wreaked in the massive earthquake in 1976 and the town is now a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. Despite the damage of countless earthquakes, floods and fires, Antigua is a beautiful place of multi-coloured, single-storey buildings, tropical gardens, plazas, fountains and cobbled streets. A popular tourist centre, it has several good hotels, restaurants and bookshops with a fairly lively nightlife. Monuments, former palaces, convents and churches that have survived in varying degrees of intactness include the Main Square, Cathedral, Palace of the Captains General, University of San Carlos(containing the Museum of Colonial Art), and the churches of La Merced, Santa Clara, Las Capuchinas, La Recolección and San Francisco. The Casa Santa Domingo is a former convent that is now a smart hotel with two small but fine collections housed in the Colonial and Archaeological museums. The town is particularly busy at Easter time where locals and visitors flock to see the spectacular Easter processions when huge litters bearing religious icons are carried over carpets of flowers and coloured sawdust. Antigua is also one of the main centres for Spanish-language schools in Guatemala.
Beyond Antigua: Just outside the town is a coffee plantation, which now houses the small but interesting Coffee Museum (Museo del Café) and Music Museum (Casa K’ojom). (K’ojom means music in the Cakchiquel language). Three nearby volcanoes, Agua, Acatenango and Fuego, all offer incomparable views of the city and surrounding countryside. Santa María de Jesús is the starting point for climbing to the crater of the Agua Volcano. Two towns worth visiting for their fine crafts are Jocotenango (a centre for ceramics, as well as the site of a lively fiesta held to celebrate the feast day of the Virgin of the Ascension on 15 August) and San Antonio Aguascalientes (for beautiful handwoven textiles). The Day of the Dead festival (on 1 November) is a celebrated ritual in Santiago Sacatepéguez when hundreds of multi-coloured circular or hexagonal kites, made from bamboo or tissue paper (increasingly polyester or plastic) are flown in honour of the dead.
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