Cathedral of Guatemala City (7a Avenida 6-73, Ciudad de Guatemala) — Guatemala City (a.k.a. Ciudad de Guatemala) was not made the capital of the country until the late 1700s, after the tragic earthquakes that devastated the country at that time. This cathedral was completed in 1815, when the image of the Virgen del Socorro was […]
Read More...Castle of San Felipe de Lara (Río Dulce, Livingston) – this is a Spanish colonial fort at the entrance to Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala that was built in 1651. Lake Izabal is connected with the Caribbean Sea via the Dulce River and El Golfete lake. The fort was strategically situated at the narrowest point […]
Read More...Casa Popenoe (Sitio Escolástico, 6 Calle Oriente #16, Antigua) – this house, which was originally built during the 18 th century, was bought by American agricultural scientist Wilson Popenoe in 1930. Popenoe once worked for both the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture/USDA, and the agribusiness giant, United Fruit Company). In the early 1900s, Popenoe was responsible […]
Read More...Arco de Santa Catalina (5a Avenida Norte, Antigua) — the Santa Catalina Arch is one of the distinguishable landmarks in Antigua — located on 5th Avenue North. Built in the 17th century, it originally connected the Santa Catalina convent to a school, allowing the cloistered nuns to pass from one building to the other without […]
Read More...Advisory: since many of the tourist sites listed in this report are outside of the capital (Guatemala City), first-time visitors should sign up with a tour group that can provide adequate transportation to and from such destinations. This is especially the case with the ancient Mayan ruins and related archaeological sites (which require a day […]
Read More...Guatemala has the distinction of being the home of one of the Americas’ ancient cultures: the Mayan civilization. That indigenous civilization, which goes as far back as 2,000 BC, was based mainly in modern-day Guatemala, and to a lesser degree in southern Mexico (including Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Chiapas regions), and portions of Belize, El […]
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