La Antigua Guatemala: A Sister City steeped in history

By Matt Bokor

When the taxi turns off the highway from Guatemala City onto the bone-rattling cobblestone streets of the former capital of New America, time doesn’t stand still – it reaches back 400 years. Visitors find themselves in a surreal setting of 17th and 18th-century Spanish architecture, where ancient church bells toll every hour and bougainvillea flows from well-manicured courtyards.

Founded by Spanish conquistadors in 1543, the city now known as La Antigua Guatemala is a destination unto its own, with stylish hotels and restaurants abutting earthquake-ruined churches, a grand central square where indigenous vendors sell colorful hand-woven textiles and three majestic volcanoes looming on the horizon. La Antigua also is an international center for Spanish-language study with over 60 schools catering to Asians, Europeans and North Americans. It’s also one of Coral Gables’ six Sister Cities.

But don’t spend all your time here. A country roughly the size of Tennessee, Guatemala has too much more to offer. Travelers frequently base themselves in La Antigua to enjoy unforgettable side trips.

What other country offers 33 volcanoes, Mayan temples, black-sand beaches, rainforests and a lake so stunning that Tahoe and Como pale in comparison?

After La Antigua, the must-see destination is Lake Atitlán, 50 square miles of deep blue formed by a cataclysmic volcanic eruption more than 100,000 years ago. A 2.5-hour drive from La Antigua, Lake Atitlán lies 5,000 feet above sea level with depths of 1,000 feet and a backdrop of three breathtaking volcanoes.

The tourist town of Panajachel is the most frequent lake destination for visitors, with its Bohemian feel and ample selection of small hotels, restaurants and honky-tonks.

Boatmen eagerly work the shore looking to ferry visitors to lakefront villages such as Santiago – home of the region’s favorite pagan saint, Maximon – Santa Catarina Palopó or San Antonio Palopó, both noted for colorful clothing and textiles made by indigenous weavers. A dozen towns are scattered among the forested mountain slopes, where hiking and biking tours provide spectacular vistas of the lake.

Travelers commonly shape their itinerary to or from the lake for a Thursday or Sunday to coincide with the market days at Chichicastenango, one of Central America’s largest outdoor markets. Like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, vendors display colorful textiles, woodcrafts and ceramics, all hand-made in nearby villages, and sell all manner of staples for the local diet – fruits, vegetables, seeds, meats – and cut flowers by the basketful.

While the Atitlán-Chichi circuit is best enjoyed with at least one overnight stay, a pleasant one-day excursion from La Antigua takes visitors to the laid-back beach town of Monterrico. Pacific waves thrill those brave enough to venture into the ocean, while others prefer to watch from the beach, its black sand a result of eons of volcanic eruptions. Beachfront restaurants, complete with swaying hammocks, offer complete meals, sandwiches and snacks, along with a wide selection of drinks, to slake the appetite that grows after an hour or two in the heat and surf.

Guatemala also hosts the continent’s largest excavated Mayan complex: Tikal, a six-square-mile city of more than 3,000 structures, surrounded by the 220-square-mile Tikal National Park. Excavated between 1956 and 1969, Tikal flourished in the ninth and 10th centuries A.D. with a population of 90,000. (U.S. filmmakers included Tikal’s pyramids and temples in one of the early Star Wars movies, and fictional adventurer Indiana Jones searched here for the holy grail.)

An Antigua-Tikal trek is best done overnight, to experience the rainforest at sunrise and the chorus of howls, chirps and squeals from the abundant wildlife. Options range from backpacker-basic hostels to filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s luxurious lodge, La Lancha. Plenty of tour packages, including transportation to Guatemala City for a short flight to Flores and ride to Tikal, are available in La Antigua.

A city’s fascinating past
La Antigua itself is a destination to behold, with at least 35 monuments dating to the 17th century and the annual Holy Week spectacle, when thousands of local churchmen and women retrace Christ’s final days along cobblestone streets adorned with colorful carpets of flowers, fruit, pine needles and dyed sawdust.

Nestled among three towering volcanoes, La Antigua lies in a mountain valley 5,000 feet high. During its 18th century heydey, La Antigua, then called Santiago (St. James), was the biggest city between Mexico City and Lima until a devastating earthquake in 1773 prompted the government to move the capital to a nearby mountain valley and what became Guatemala City.

La Antigua’s abandonment was incomplete, however, and by the early to mid-1800s, the population had begun to grow, in large part due to coffee farming in the fertile volcanic soils nearby. Thus the early renovators began piecing together the damaged homes, retaining their colonial architectural style. Tremendous efforts went into restoration of quake-ravaged churches, most notably the Cathedral of St. Joseph, which anchors the east side of the La Antigua’s central park.

As La Antigua’s popularity continued into the 20th century, more and more attention focused on preserving its unique patrimony, culminating in its designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Today, in convents where colonial nuns lived and in the old mansions of Spanish nobility, tourists find painstakingly restored beds and breakfasts, which wrap around well-manicured courtyards bursting with vibrant blooms year-round. Along with sophisticated restaurants and trendy nightspots, La Antigua offers everything from bunk-style boarding to high-end, luxury hotels.

Of particular local pride is that here in 1999, Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to overnight in Guatemala when he participated in a summit of Latin American leaders in La Antigua. (President Johnson spent several hours in Guatemala City but never left the airport.)

After a side trip to Lake Atitlán, an excursion to Tikal or day at the beach, nothing beats sitting in one of La Antigua’s rooftop cafés at sunset, with a view toward volcano Fuego, with its smoke billowing and orange lava trailing down its side. Church bells quietly toll nearby and undoubtedly a local marimba band can be heard entertaining at a nearby fiesta.

Only 2.5 hours from Miami, Guatemala is worlds away.