Welcome to the old capital of Guatemala, Antigua Guatemala. By now we have become accustomed to the sometimes-unfamiliar naming of cities in Central America, but here is a brief explanation. Antigua Guatemala actually means Old Guatemala. So, Guatemala was probably the original name of the capital, as is still the case today with Guatemala City. And anyway, nobody even pronounces the name of the capital here, it’s just the city (la ciudad) anyway. Very similar to Mexico with Mexico City. So now we explore Antigua, the old capital of Guatemala.

City camping in Antigua

We have weighed up the few options available in Antigua and the best option is actually a parking lot in front of a hostel with access to all amenities. This way we can relax and explore the city and if we want to spend quieter hours, we can spend time in the hostel’s courtyard on cozy seating. We also feel that Antigua is very safe, but we decide against parking just on the roadside as we would then have no outside area for the time between our excursions into the city and, above all, no shower!

Old town center with countless church ruins

Historically, there are many church ruins in Antigua as the city lies on a fault line close to volcanoes and has been repeatedly shaken. At some point, the destroyed churches were not rebuilt and today there are more or less restored church ruins all over the city, which are well worth a visit. In some cases, only the front wall with the large entrance gate remains, but no entrance fee is charged. In other ruins, the main floor plan with dome openings remains. These church ruins have now been carefully restored in many cases, so that the impression of ruins is even enhanced and has an even more impressive effect on visitors. We take a look at some of these ruins.

Antigua’s colonial past

The Spanish used Antigua as the administrative center of their Central American colonies. Accordingly, the cityscape is characterized by a colonialist architectural style. A regular network of streets at right angles to each other runs through the entire city and divides the blocks of buildings. The houses are also clearly recognizable as colonialist by a number of features. For example, the central administration building near the main square has a long arcade. The cityscape is characterized by many other buildings, most of which are only single-story, at most with intensive use of the roof as an additional story, with typical window shapes and old wooden doors.

There are also countless other well-preserved colonial buildings and isolated ruins, such as the wash basins for doing laundry – the informal historical village center where women in particular exchanged information about what was happening in Antigua. The Arco de Santa Catalina is also a landmark of Antigua and should not be missed during our visits to the city.

Panorama of Antigua and the surrounding area

Antigua lies in a small valley, for us it almost feels like a basin, nestled between hills and a large volcano, the Agua volcano. In the distance you can also see the two other striking volcanoes El Fuego and Acatenango. Antigua is thus beautifully embedded within the landscape, but at the same time cannot grow much larger as otherwise the residential areas would have to be extended onto the surrounding slopes.

We feel really at home in Antigua. So much so that we once again stay longer than planned. It is a perfect mix between tourism and the local population. There are many restaurants that suit us well and so, for once in Central America, we don’t find it difficult to eat out more often. It is now December and so we would like to try a hearty cheese dish such as raclette or fondue for a change. And we actually find what we’re looking for! We find a restaurant that has been run by a Swiss from French-speaking Switzerland for over 20 years, which does indeed offer raclette. The temperatures are also reasonably cool in the evening at just under 20°C, so there’s nothing holding us back. We are thrilled that even in Guatemala it is possible to conjure up a great raclette straight from the cheese wheel! Wonderful – we’ll be back another time, for the moment we’ve also arrived in a somewhat milder form in the winter mood!
We also take a trip into the surrounding countryside. Antigua is surrounded by three volcanoes, so a trip to a volcano is just the thing. More about this in the next blog post.