Antigua History
The former capital of Guatemala and the main city in Central America was founded on March 10, 1543 by the Spanish conquerors in the Panchoy Valley and it was named “Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala”. The founders selected this location because of its great climate and because it had much water. The city was built with the typical Spanish Grid design which is composed by 64 blocks (8 x 8). From here it was controlled all General Captaincy of Guatemala which included almost whole Central America and some Mexican territories like Chiapas and Yucatan. Both the captaincy and the city belonged to the viceroyalty of Mexico that next to viceroyalty from Peru were the two most important in America.
In that moment (XVI and XVII centuries) Antigua was the third most important city in the New World after Lima y Mexico and one of the most beautiful. That was the time of gold for this city, the most buildings were constructed during this period amongst them many monasteries, cathedrals, hermitages, hospitals, parks and the University of San Carlos; nearly 30 religious orders were established in the city. Nevertheless, the often earthquakes because of the continuing volcanic activity in the area, periodically destroyed the city. Finally on 29 July, 1773 the city was affected by two great earthquakes, known as “St. Martha Earthquakes” which destroyed the entire city. Then in 1776 the Spanish Crown decided that it would be better to move the Capital definitely. From that moment the Capital was moved to the Valley of the Shrine, the actual Guatemala city which is located around 60 Km of Antigua City. But, many people decided to stay in Antigua despite the danger and the people start to call “Antigua Guatemala” to the former city of “Santiago de los Caballeros”.
Thanks its Colonial history the city was declared “Monument of the Americas” by Pan-American Institute of History and Geography in 1942 , in 1944 it was declared “National monument of Guatemala” and in 1979 UNESCO declared the city as “Cultural Heritage of America”.
Now the city, also known as “City of Roses” because of the great variety of these flowers that grow here, is one of the most visited cities in Guatemala. It is famous thanks to its impressive religious celebrations (mainly in Lent and Easter) and the great number of Spanish Language Schools; since many American end European come here during Holy week or to learn Spanish in the prestigious schools of Antigua.
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