GUATEMALA 2026: ANTIGUA

 March 21, 2026

Our last full day in Guatemala was spent in Antigua, which served as the capital from 1543 to 1773 when the country was part of the Kingdom of Spain. As a result, it is full of Spanish Baroque architecture and Old World charm and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Actually, Bob left early in the morning for a birding expedition, but I figured I could explore the Old Town area around our hotel by myself while he was gone. While I was looking for breakfast, I wandered into this park a few blocks from our hotel.

The "Fountain of the Sirens" was added in 1738. The four bare-chested women that are part of the fountain are quite eye-popping. It is no suprise that today the park is still a hub of activity, and when I was there, it was full of vendors, musicians, and tourists.

I enjoyed some pastries and wandered back towards our hotel. Shops across the cobblestone street from our room were just beginning to open. The street vendors were just starting to set up as well. Check out this guy bringing in an assortment of hats!

Before long, there was plenty of commerce going on. Under that pile of textiles is a little Guatemalan grandma selling her wares.

As I walked through the shops, one of the things that really stood out to me was the number of trinkets adorned with Frida Kahlo images. I guess as a country adjacent to Mexico, this shouldn't have suprised me. Afterall, I have seen Frida in places as diverse and far away as Tunisia, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Canada.

I think the beautiful Guatemalan paper money is worth a few words here. Note the flying bird on the front of each bill--the "resplendent quetzal." It is the national animal of Guatemala and the source of the money's name--the quetzal.

The backs of the bills have scenes from Guatemalan history. And by the way, $1 USD = 7.62 quetzals, so the 25 quetzals here = $3.28.

One of the most iconic structures in Antigua is the Arco de Santa Catalina, or Arch of St. Catherine. Our hotel was about one block from this beautiful arch, which is actually a bridge that was built in the 17th century to connect the Santa Catalina Convent with a school. It has to be the most important Instagram/selfie spot in all of Guatemala.

Everywhere I turned there were people posing for photos with the arch in the background.

These signs were intriguing to me: Mushrooms from avocado, gravilea (?), and cypress trees (left) and Fungal sample: Wooden flower (not for sale).

These are pretty bizarre-looking mushrooms.

Then there was this cookie for sale in a small cafe near the arch. It cost about $2, but it was very large (the size of Crumbl cookies), so I decided to try it. The. Best. Cookie. I. Have. Ever. Eaten. Seriously. It was incredible. I wish I had the recipe.

In a chocolate cookie reverie, I went back out on the promenade with Bob, who had returned from his birding expedition. (Lucky for me, Bob only wanted a little taste of my cookie. He's not big into dark chocolate.) This photo of the arch is from the far side, looking back towards our hotel, which is on the other side.

We wanted to see inside the baroque Merced Church, built between 1749-1767.

It was only open for a short time during the day, so we waited in line until we could buy tickets to go inside, only to discover that we had bought tickets for the museum but the cathedral itself was closed to tourists because of a wedding.

Oh well, the rest of the church was still beautiful.

We caught a glimpse of the interior when the bridal party entered. Too bad we couldn't wait an hour until it would be accessible, but We Had Places To Go And Things To Do . . . 

. . . which included posing with the Antigua sign . . .

. . . sampling the mango spears and spices . . . 

. . . and cooling off with some lemonade while watching this skilled woman create tortillas.

I think it was at this point that we connected with our guide for the afternoon. We had a walking tour that began at the park I had visited in the morning. The park is surrounded by beautiful buildings, such as the historic Palacio de los Capitanes Generales (Palace of the Captains General), the first phases of which were built in the mid-16th century as administrative headquarters and residences for the Spanish colonial goverment that oversaw all of Spain's Central American conquests at the time. Now it houses cultural offices and museums.

Around the corner is the Antigua Cathedral of San José, originally consecrated in 1541 but reconstructed multiple times and ultimately abandoned after earthquakes in 1717, 1751, and 1773. Some remodeling work began in the early 19th century, but then the earthquakes of 1874 and 1918 did further damage. The facade has been beautifully rebuilt . . . 

. . . but some parts of the cathedral were never rebuilt. The ruins of massive brick and masonry structures are hidden behind the present-day cathedral.

A high school band was playing on the front porch of the cathedral, probably as part of the Lent/Holy Week activities in the city.

Inside we found the now-familiar swaths of fabric draped from the ceiling and walls of the nave.

Unlike the churches we had seen at Lake Atitlán, however, this church had a beautiful carpet lined with an intricate, symmetrical pattern of fruits and vegetables. Our guide said these are presented as an offering to Jesus, which is a bit of a blend of Mayan and Catholic traditions. Families bring the best of their harvest to contribute, and ultimately the food is all given to the poor.

There are no shortages of representations of the Virgin Mary in these cathedrals.

Bob can't let sleeping dogs lie, and we have a hard time passing up street food, in this case fresh pineapple slices served in a plastic bag with chamoy and chili-lime seasoning.

The weathered 17-century St. Agustin Church was built in the Spanish Colonial Baroque style. A historical exhibition opened inside in August 2024, but it appeared to be closed to the public  when we saw it. This massive building would make a great restoration project someday and a terrific haunted house this Halloween.

Our guide told us that this is one of Guatemala's iconic "chicken buses," a public transport vehicle made from a retired North American yellow school bus. They have conspicuous vibrant paint jobs and roof racks for luggage/cargo, and are an affordable mode of intercity transit across the country.

We were hungry, so our guide led us through the very crowded market to a food stall that sells traditional Guatemalan dishes.

I think this was stewed goat and veggies. It was pretty average.

It seems that most Latin American countries have some version of tamales. I really liked this one that came wrapped in banana leaves. 

We had time after dinner to walk through the produce section of the farmers market. It was overflowing with an abundance of ripe, locally grown fruit and vegetables.

These are cashew apples (also known as marañón). Those gray "tails" are actually cashews. Yes, the cashews that we consume in the U.S. Each "fruit" produces a single nut enclosed in a toxic double-layered shell. (The toxin is the same one found in poison ivy.) 

• When ripe, the fruit drops to the ground and is collected by workers, who twist off or cut away the nut from the bottom of the fruit.
• The raw nuts {still in their toxic shells) are laid out in the sun for 2-3 days.
• The dried nuts are then steamed to destroy the toxic oil in the shell.
• Workers or machines crack the shell to get to the nut inside.
• 

Insane, right? 

This vegetable that looks like a pea pod has a wonderful name: the ice-cream bean. Spliting it open reveals large black seeds embedded in an edible, fluffy white pulp that feels smooth like ice cream and is very sweet. The seeds can be cooked for food.

The ice cream bean reminds me a little of cacao beans, which also come encased in a tart/sweet pulp.

It was time to start back to our hotel. On our way we passed by a very unusual McDonald's draped in Lenten/Holy Week purple swaths of fabric.

Speaking of which, apparently Antigua has some of the most famous Semana Santa/Holy Week traditions in the entire Catholic world. Holy Week in Guatemala is even a UNESCO-recognized cultural and religious event, and most of the Guatemalan Holy Week traditions originated in Antigua. The day we spent wandering around Antigua was still a week before Semana Santa (which was March 29-April 5), but the Antiguans were already in high gear in their celebrations. During the month of Lent, religious vigils are held every Friday and Sunday in a different church. I think what we saw must have been one of those precursors to the bigger events of Holy Week (even though we saw it on a Saturday). 

Here is the best recording I got of what is called Las Andas (The Processional Platform). These enormous wooden platforms bearing images of the Jesus and Mary, which weigh anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 pounds, are borne on the shoulders of the faithful. The platform and its bearers are followed by a brass and drum band that plays very slow, solemn, somewhat haunting music. It was extremely crowded on the sidelines and a little hard to get a good view. 

This Guatemalan tradition dates back almost 500 years and represents another fusion of Spanish Catholic traditions and Mayan culture--the Catholic Way of the Cross merging with the Mayan custom of transporting important leaders on elevated platforms.

Earlier in the day we had seen several women or groups of women wearing all black dresses and head coverings, a sign of their mourning for the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. We also saw the station were locals volunteer to be one of the privileged persons carrying the platform (below right). It takes three or four dozen people to carry the platform, and those in a group must all be about the same size, so they come here to be measured and assigned to a specific day/time/platform with others of similar height. 

Here is my best still shot of the andas and the band behind it.

When we saw the platform, it was so low to the ground that I thought the people bearing it must be processing on their knees as we have seen penitents do when approaching a cathedral, but it turns out the carriers were children!

A few blocks from our hotel, when we knew we were close enough to find our way through the crowds on our own, we said goodbye to our wonderful guide, a knowledgeable, friendly, and very typical-looking Guatemalan.

The following morning we had to get up extra early to meet our driver who was taking us back to the airport in Guatemala City because all of the streets around our hotel (in the historical city center) were closed because of Semana Santa activities. Again, Easter was still two weeks away. What must it be like during the actual Holy Week?  

Our driver met us at our hotel at 3:30 a.m. We walked with all our luggage for about 45 minutes, so probably at least two miles, until we reached the place where he had parked his car. On the way we saw some men creating an alfombra, which is a temporary carpet made of colored sawdust and natural items such as flowers, pine needles, and fruit on the cobblestone street. It looks like these men used a stencil to create the border on each side. They work all night to have it ready for the Sunday morning procession.

This is the equivalent of "rollling out the red carpet"--a pathway made especially for the holy procession. Of course, when the procession walks on it, it is destroyed. This ephemeral art is most common on Good Friday, so again, we were lucky to see it.

According to the internet, most of the alfombras are made by families, but this one seems to have had an unexpected sponsor. 😊

And that's a wrap! Of the seven Central American countries, we have been to three: Belize, Guatemala, and Panama. Still to go: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.