The Spanish founded a capital city in 1524 for their Central American department. It was called, in shorthand form, Santiago--or "St. James". The long form was something like Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemalan, or the "City of St. James of the Knights of Guatemala". Most people just called it Santiago.
After numerous attacks by the native peoples who lived right there where the Spanish founded their city, the Spanish moved the city.
A few miles away.
The new capital, also named Santiago et al, was this time beset by volcano and earthquake, was destroyed, and the Spanish moved again.
By 1527 they settled on a third site, and this site stuck. For a while. At some point the name "Santiago" started to become interchangeable with "Guatemala", and the occasional "Guatemala City" (well, Ciudad Guathemala, but you get the idea).
Earthquakes and volcanic activity did its share of damage, and by 1715, the thought of a new capital for the Central American department became a necessity. In the year 1776, the Spanish crown declared the the city be abandoned, and all the important departments and services move to the new site, about fifty kilometers away down the mountain, farther away from the volcano.
The city sat mostly abandoned for decades.
At one point, in the 1680s, the city was the richest colonial town in the entire Americas. Within a hundred years it was mandated abandoned. Fucking Spanish.
The new city that was formed when they left Guatemala City was called, maybe you can guess, Guatemala City. Today's Guatemala City is the sprawling metropolis that wasn't destroyed by earthquake, volcano, or uprising. After the move people referred to the old Guatemala City as, well, Old Guatemala City. Eventually, as it was repopulated over the centuries, it just became known as "Old", or, depending on the translation, "Ancient". Hence, the name we know the the city today: Antigua, Spanish for "ancient".
By the time we made it to the city school was letting out, we only had a few hours to spend trying to soak it in (that was plenty), and my, er, bowel situation had finally become just that--a conscious need to be near a porcelain depository for more than hourly deposits. The discomfort in my belly area was noticeable; the constant pressure like a person standing on my stomach was more annoying than painful, but the occasional bad pressure, like someone grinding their heel on me, while brief, was lame.
But, for people like Corrie and me, a few hours in Antigua is more than enough. We saw the various ruins in the city, we saw the volcano off in the distance, and we paid thirty-damn-American-dollars for appetizers and fruit smoothies at a restaurant.
Here are some pictures of the colorful streets, ruined churches...the volcano. That's Antigua! It struck me the whole time as weird that such a "Jesus"-crazy place wouldn't have done more to fix-up the old churches and cathedrals.
Look how miserable I am, with the volcano in the background. Well, maybe you need to know me to know that's a mixed "loving the time but hating life" look on my face.
This is easily the coolest fountain I've ever seen, and I've been to Rome and Paris and Prague and Florence.
This yellow one wasn't destroyed. I don't remember the name.
I know this and the next shot of ruined churches look similar, but you'll have to take my word for it that they're totally separate spots in the city.
Totally not the same spot as the above picture...
Colorful streets...here the world that people who live here experience is behind those colorful walls. Every once in a while you could, while walking around, catch a glimpse into an interior courtyard and see how the world was quiet and un-cobbled.
Once was enough. I might put up some different pictures at a later date, like maybe some of Corrie's pictures from the market we went to, or some more ruins details, but we'll likely never set foot there again. I don't think I can, or would want to, say that about many of the random places I've been.
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