General information about La Antigua Guatemala
La Antigua Guatemala was founded by the Spanish conquistadors in the Panchoy Valley in 1543, it was then named Santiago de los Caballeros. For more than 200 years it was the capital of Guatemala from where the governor of the Spanish colonies of Guatemala ruled over a large part of Guatemala and Central America. In 1717 a big earthquake hit whereby most buildings and churches were destroyed. Another big earthquake hit in 1773 and following this the Spanish rulers decided to move the capital to where is now present day Guatemala City. The badly damaged city of Santiago de los Caballeros was abandoned and was from then on known as La Antigua Guatemala (the old Guatemala).
Present day Antigua has a lot to offer for tourists. It is very centrally located at only 45 minutes from the airport in Guatemala City and an excellent base from where you can explore the rest of Guatemala. It is also famous for the number of excellent Spanish schools and people from all over the world come to Antigua to learn Spanish. There are a lot of interesting museums, churches and ruins you can visit (some of which I mention below), but Antigua is also a town where you can spend time just wandering the streets or taking a seat at a bench in Central Park with one of the excellent cups of coffee sold in the many coffee places around the park. Also there are a lot a restaurants that offer any type of food (international and local) and a lot of nice bars to have a drink at night and mix with locals and foreigners alike.
Things to do
Azotea coffeefarm Tour
Free shuttles leaving from central park and from Nimpot every hour.
Entrance fee for tour coffeefarm (including music museum) 50 Quetzales.
Valhalla Organic Macadamia Orchard
Free tour of the organic macadamia orchard.
Monday thru Sunday, from 8 am to 4:30 pm.
www.exvalhalla.net
Pacaya Active volcano tour
Every day 6 am / 2 pm
$7 shuttle and guide (does not include 40 Quetzales entrance fee)
You can book these tickets at our guesthouse
Climb up the hill to Cerro de la Cruz: look out point with beautiful views of Antigua.
The tourist police will take you for free.
Museums, Churches and Convents
Museum of Hermano Pedro (located behind the San Francisco Church).
This museum is dedicated to the life of Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancourt (1626-1667). Hermano Pedro came to La Antigua Guatemala from Spain. He devoted his life in Antigua to the help of the sick and the poor. In the museum you will find a lot of information about his life and you can visit his tomb in the San Francisco Church. (Entrance fee for the museum is 5 Quetzales p.p.)
Santiago Old Weapons Museum (located at the north side of the central park).
In this museum you can see the weapons the Spaniards and indigenous people used during the conquest.
La Merced church and convent.
Just a block north of the Arco de Santa Catalina, La Merced has a beautiful yellow and white terra cotta baroque facade. The church and convent have been build and rebuild many times because of earthquake damage. The main part of the church has been restored and is still in use today. Within the monastery area is a huge fountain, reputed to be the largest in Central America. (Entrance fee for the monastery is 5 Quetzales p.p.).
More information on museums will follow.....