Antigua Guatemala Today

Las Merced Church Antigua Guatemala La Merced is the starting and ending point for the famous Good Friday procession of Antigua. The procession involves a cast of many thousands, including Roman centurions and cavalry, self-flagellating penitentes, Pontius Pilate, the two thieves, statues of saints and of Christ in various stages along the Via Dolorosa, high Catholic officials with attendants swinging censers, brass bands playing unimaginably dolorous funereal marches, and, of course, statues of the Virgin Mary (these borne by women). The procession requires eight hours to pass through Antigua’s streets, which are emblazoned with alfombras (carpets) of pine needles, flowers and brightly dyed sawdust laid in designs. The climax at any one viewing point is when the gigantic, multi-ton (float) of Christ carrying the cross, lumbers by swaying from side to side as the 80 bearers step in unison, promoting the illusion that the statue is actually walking. Eventually this great pageant winds its way back to La Merced where in a scene worthy of Cecil B. DeMille, Christ is turned about, then backed into the church to repose until next year’s Semana Santa (Holy Week).

Another very special ruin is that of the convent of Santa Clara founded in 1699 by the arrival of five nuns and one legate from Mexico. The convent’s first church was completed in 1705, but destroyed in 1717. The remains standing today are those of a new church and convent started in 1723 and finished in 1734. The ruined nave and altar were constructed over gloomy subterranean vaults that are best explored with a flashlight. A complex of corridors and stairwells gives access to various parts of the shadowy ruin. But the greatest beauty of Santa Clara is its ruined cloister, featuring a two-tiered arcade of nine half-circle arches on all four sides.

Outside the church and cloister, the remains of the Santa Clara convent are less imposing, but include the linterna, still heavy with smoke inside, that marks the site of the former cocina (kitchen). The low arch is a feature found in many of the colonial kitchens: the ovens and grills were located directly under the chimney, and the low arch helped keep the smoke going up the chimney rather than into the remainder of the food preparation area which was high ceilinged.

The church of El Carmen, completed in 1728, is the third to occupy this site. The main façade of the church is ornate baroque, and unique in Antigua with its triple pairs of columns set on podia projecting forward from the main wall in place of the niches and saints usually occurring here on Antigua’s churches. Adjoining the church in the space now occupied by the red-painted private home were the conventual buildings. It was here that the Capuchin nuns were first housed upon their arrival in Antigua in 1726, prior to the building of Las Capuchinas. Today none of the convent buildings remain, only the the ruined church is still standing. The interior of the nave was just under 150 feet long.

Religious and government buildings do not hold a monopoly on Spanish colonial architecture in Antigua. The palacial homes of wealthy Spaniards and creoles, some taking up a good portion of a city block, are scattered through the town, but views of those in private hands may be restricted to the long whitewashed walls that face the cobbled streets. Others, such as the Casa de los Leones have been converted into hotels and are open to the public. The Casa de los Leones, named for the sculptured stone lions rampant flanking the main portal, was built before the 1717 earthquakes. As is typical of the better colonial homes, rooms are arranged around patios. Today the Casa de los Leones has been modified to serve as a hotel, La Posada de don Rodrigo, preserving some original colonial furnishings such as the heavy wooden shutters and doors. A characteristic element of colonial architecture is the corner window, which here opens into the bar of the Posada de don Rodrigo.

A private home that is open to the public on specified hours is the Casa Popenoe, originally constructed in the first half of the 17th century for don Luís de las Infantas y Mendoza, a Spaniard and judge in the Royal Audiencia. This house had fallen into ruins and was lovingly restored by Dr. Wilson Popenoe and his wife Dorothy in the 1930s. The Popenoes furnished the house with period antiques collected over the years. Like many colonial residences, the home is built right up to the sidewalk and presents massive walls to the public. But the interior is graced with flowered patios flanked by cool shaded corridors. Popenoe’s collection of colonial art and furnishings, the complete colonial kitchen, baths and laundry areas, dovecote and other features of this home make it a must to the visitor interested in how the Spanish colonial elite lived. Dr. Popenoe was an American agronomist who worked in Central America for many years; the story of the restoration of this wonderful home was the subject of a book by Louis Adamic, “The House in Antigua”.

Colonial architecture and modern construction in colonial style is found throughout Antigua in mansions and in humbler homes. Wandering along the cobbled streets one passes by numerous portones, typically heavy wooden double doors studded with large brass or iron bosses. The double doors could be opened simultaneously to permit the passage of a horse and rider or a carriage, or individually to allow entry and exit of people afoot. In very large portals a smaller door built as a panel into one of the pair of large doors opens for foot traffic. Some buildings featured corner posts of stone matching the stonework of their portals; these corner posts served a decorative purpose while at the same time protecting the building from damage when struck by passing carts or carriages.

The walls of colonial homes were built thick, partly in the vain hope of surviving earthquakes, and accordingly window openings must be deep, giving the opportunity for artistic expression in deeply molded fenestration. More commonly windows have a wide flat sill with ample room to sit on, as seen here in the window to the left of the deeply recessed and molded window. Corner windows form especially pleasant and secluded retreats from which aristocratic gentlewomen might observe passers-by. Virtually all windows are barred with either wrought iron or wooden grills.Although the abandonment of Antigua as the seat of colonial government also entailed the transferral of its church institutions and its wealthy families to new homes in the new capital, Antigua was never totally depopulated. Poorer people stayed behind in the ruined city. Massive church and convent ruins became homes and places of business. In fact, until the 1976 earthquake the huge ruins of the church and convent of the Compañía de Jesús served as the municipal marketplace. In 1779 Antigua, reclassified (demoted) as a villa, was designated the capital of the province of Sacatepéquez. 

Antigua grew slowly through the 19th century, during which period some restoration work was done on the former cathedral, now serving as a parish church. But it was not until the mid-20th century that the historic and architectural value of the colonial buildings and ruins began to be appreciated. In 1944 the Government of Guatemala, under Jorge Ubico, declared Antigua Guatemala a National Monument, giving formal recognition to the site as a unique part of Guatemala’s historic and cultural patrimony. In 1965 the Pan American Institute of Geography and History named Antigua the “Monumental City of the Americas”. Four years later the Consejo Nacional para la Protección de Antigua Guatemala was established. Today this Council oversees restoration work and sets guidelines for new construction work in Antigua, with the goal of preserving the colonial ambience and integrity of the city. Finally, as mentioned earlier, the city was designated a Cultural Heritage of Mankind site by UNESCO in 1979, further emphasizing the uniqueness of the preserved colonial architecture and the cultural value of Antigua’s great beauty to all the world’s people.