Antigua, a City for the Ages

Antigua is both a beguiling and mysterious city.

Surrounded by three volcanoes, the former capital of Guatemala is awash with narrow cobblestone streets of pastel, stuccoed homes and businesses. The individual buildings, together, form streetscapes presenting themselves as long walls, mostly one story in height. This restored Spanish Colonial architecture is interspersed with and juxtaposed against scenic ruins, which are preserved, as is, in perpetuity.

With Antigua’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, even chains like Starbucks and McDonald’s must be concealed behind the classic street walls. Laid out in a 12-square block grid, the city itself occupies one square mile with a population of 5,000 inhabitants along with businesses, restaurants, museums, and schools, etc. while another 45,000 Antigueños, who work in the city, live on its outskirts.

The capital, formerly known as Santiago Guatemala, was established in 1543. After an earthquake on July 29, 1773, the city was almost completely destroyed and the capitol was moved to Guatemala City. The residents were told to evacuate and relocate while the city was looted for salvaged building materials. The government ordered the city to be deconstructed — but it was not deserted. In the early part of the 19th century, a coffee boom spurred growth in the city, by then known as La Antigua Guatemala (Old Guatemala).

Renovation continued on the battered buildings, and in 1944, Guatemala’s president, Jorge Ubico, gave national monument status to the city. In 1976, another earthquake struck, this time leaving thousands dead and much of the restoration work badly damaged. The UNESCO designation, however, provided a stimulus for restoration. It also fueled a cultural renaissance in the city with the development of 65 Spanish-language schools. It is now a mecca for foreign students. Tourism has also increased, as the city has become a popular wedding destination in Latin America.

Like many traditional, Spanish Colonial cities in the New World, Antigua is laid out around Parque Central, a plaza in its very center. Major public buildings, restaurants and a cathedral surround the plaza, which also features a fountain of mermaids as its centerpiece. The plaza is alive day and night as a place for costermongers, vendors, people watchers and tourists.

The cathedral sits adjacent to the plaza with its lovely façade facing the street. The big surprise upon entering is a church in ruins. If one could imagine walking into a drawing by Piranesi, this is it. Built in 1680, the cathedral featured a series of domes sitting on thick piers along with brick archways. The building, heavily damaged in the 1773 earthquake, is open to the sky inside. Fragments of domes, some completely destroyed, some missing their plaster parging with only exposed bricks rounding up to the top, reveal craftsmanship that is breathtakingly exquisite. Some of the plaster moldings in the archways have been reproduced along with stucco figures while parts of pillars lay strewn on the floor. To protect the cathedral from future earthquakes, the National Council for the Protection of La Antigua Guatemala has stabilized the ruins to some degree. The cathedral itself is enormous and there is only a small section left intact for worship. There is a burial vault or crypt under the main altar and statuary of a blackened Christ. Today, the crypt is open and lit with candles by Maya worshippers.

The 1736 Capuchinas Convent, nicknamed for the nuns’ brown habit, is a building receding from the street. The two-story cloister is composed of sections, divided according to use, such as offices for the administration, workrooms, kitchens and dining, dormitory rooms, hot water baths and public spaces. Upon entering, there is a courtyard flanked by stout columns, which allows the visitor to access the other spaces in the building. The walls are thick and the rooms are sparse, but it would not be a big leap to figure out their functions even if one didn’t know their purpose. The compound, however, has a wonderful scale to it both intimate and protected even in its larger spaces. In some places the walls are more than 18 inches thick. The rear of the property contains a large garden very much removed from the realities of the city.

The streets of Antigua contain all kinds of interesting places, one of which is the Jade Museum. Guatemala is rich in jade, which is mined and made into jewelry and art objects. The museum traces the history of jade in the country as well as having a showroom for jewelry and different types of jade including white and lavender. While in the museum I was asked if I wanted to know my animal sign in the Maya calendar. I gave them my birth date only to be told I am a Kawoq, which is the sign of a turtle. To my astonishment, of the seven professions named under this sign two of them included architect and writer. Others in my group also had similar experiences.

No matter where one goes in Guatemala, the handwoven clothing and fabrics are exquisite. Our guide told us that certain regions and towns are noted for their weavings and one can often tell where someone is from by the distinctive patterns in their clothing.

Perhaps the most striking event during our visit to Antigua was the processional on the second Sunday of Lent. It is the largest celebration in all of Central and South America. The city was flooded with people as we walked along the processional route, which goes through the entire city. Prior to the start of the procession, residents make sawdust carpets in front of their homes, sometimes taking anywhere between 10 and 24 hours to construct them. The carpets are made with pine needles and/or sawdust gathered at lumber mills. These materials, locally dyed ahead of time, are combined in plastic bags with alcohol. The streets with sawdust carpets are closed down, and watered with hoses. The cobblestone streets are anything but level, and additional sand or sawdust is often required for a base before the colored materials can be applied. The carpet construction starts in the centers and branches out to the edges. Stencils are often used to create a pattern. Additionally, flower petals as well as vegetables are used in the carpet designs. The families who make these carpets are not in competition with one another. Rather, the carpet making is both a celebration and a labor of love. After the processional passes over the carpets, they are swept away.

The processional goes into the evening, which is when it went by our hotel. The float, with Christ carrying the cross, is carried by 40 men holding up outriggers while a smaller one of the Virgen de Dolores rests on the shoulders of 16 women. Men dressed as Roman soldiers with helmets and spears walked alongside the floats. Priests carrying incense holders preceded the floats on foot and left behind a smoke-filled street. As the floats approached, swaying from side to side, a sea of smartphones recorded the procession moving to the beat of the band’s funeral march whose sound was as bone chilling and haunting as anything I have ever heard.

Guatemala is on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Anyone visiting Antigua can easily see why.

Anne Surchin is an East End architect and writer, vice chair of the Southold Historic Preservation Commission and co-author with Gary Lawrance of “Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930.”