Central America 2000 - Antigua
From Worldtraveller
When the Spanish conquered Guatemala, they founded their first capital in 1527 at a site known today as Ciudad Vieja (Old City). Situated on the fertile flanks of the huge but extinct Volcán Agua, it seemed like an ideal place for a city. It lasted for just 14 years, though, before disaster struck. After weeks of heavy rains, the lake at the summit suddenly breached the crater walls. A huge torrent of water and rock swept down the mountainside and ploughed through the city, completely obliterating it. A new capital was founded two years later, further from the volcano, and (so it was hoped) out of danger.
This city, rather cumbersomely called La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala, thrived as the capital for 230 years, before disaster again struck. A huge earthquake struck the region, and the city was all but flattened. The present capital was established at Guatemala City, and the old capital, now known as La Antigua Guatemala (The Old Guatemala), no longer an important place, was very slowly repopulated. It did so without losing its traditional character, and today is a living relic of the past, with colonial architecture and cobbled streets.
As well as its disaster-ridden history, Antigua has a dramatic setting. Volcán Agua towers above the city to the south, while Volcán Acatenango and Volcán Fuego stand slightly further off to the west. Volcán Fuego is one of Central America's most active volcanoes, and has been erupting every few weeks for many years, while slightly further away from Antigua, Volcán Pacaya is another very active volcano, which made the news here in January after a particularly large eruption.
We wanted to climb Pacaya and one of the three big volcanoes, but on our first day it was overcast and chilly. Well, I say chilly - temperatures in Antigua are usually around 25°C, but we'd got very accustomed to temperatures in the low to mid-thirties over the previous three weeks, and I generally wore my fleece in Antigua. The clouds hung low, and we could only see the stumps of the three volcanoes, so we spent the first day just exploring the town. It really is a beautiful place, with many churches and cathedrals, lively market places, and Mayan people selling their wares on the street. This beauty is not unknown to the outside world, however, and we shared the city with many foreigners.
The next day was also grey, but we wanted to do something, so we decided to climb Cerro de la Cruz. This is a hill to the north of the town which, until a couple of years ago, was notorious for armed robberies. Very few people ever went there, because if you did you were almost without fail relieved of all your belongings. However, these days, the Antigua police accompany anyone who wants to go up the hill. They are well armed, and it costs nothing, so we took advantage of this service and went up the hill. Despite the clouds it was a good view of the city nestled between the volcanoes, and we took many photographs. Very grateful for their excellent service, we tried to leave the policemen a tip on our return to the town, but they refused to accept it.
