Pedro de Alvarado was the lieutenant of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

He arrived in this area in 1523. After overcoming the resistance of the Quiché Indians, on July 25, 1524, he founded Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, today’s Antigua.

The first cities founded by the Spaniards were simple outposts. Their layouts were irregular and randomly oriented. In the 16th century, these chaotic and unsanitary encampments no longer met the needs of the settlers, so the plans for new cities followed a grid pattern, with square or rectangular blocks.

Antigua is crossed by two rivers: the Río Pensativo and the Río Guacalate. Despite its elevation of 1,520 meters above sea level, it lies only at the foot of the Agua Volcano, known for its mudflows caused by melting snow during eruptions. Santiago de los Caballeros remained the capital until 1773, when it was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. Since then, it has been referred to as “Antigua” in contrast to “La Nueva,” the present-day Guatemala City, built starting the following year just 50 kilometers to the east. What was left after the initial destruction was further damaged by the 1975 earthquake.

In Antigua’s street grid, oriented as usual along the cardinal points, unfolds a story that blends political and religious meanings in a tradition well-established in the Old World. Overlooking the Plaza Real are the Palacio de la Real Audiencia, the cathedral, and the Palacio de Noble Ayuntamiento. On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the plaza hosts a market where women from nearby villages sell colorful fabrics, embroidered skirts, carved leather belts, pottery, and even a few rare jade items, extracted from an ancient Maya mine.

Visiting these places, the colonial atmosphere is captivating. The decay lends the buildings an even greater charm. The vast patios with Moorish influences, in their characteristic natural silence, enchant with stunning views of the volcano and its snow-capped peaks.

Antigua has a high concentration of religious buildings, due to the simultaneous presence of multiple orders. There are a total of fourteen churches and nine convents. Of the Convento de Santo Domingo, only a few windowless cells remain, topped with small domes that provided the necessary air and light. A vaulted room is still accessible, where a clever acoustic effect allowed the prior, seated in the center, to hear whispered confessions from the friars facing the wall.

Today, Antigua has the allure of a fallen capital. After a tourist visit, one feels the desire to stay. The center resembles a New World Pompeii, a museum of colonial architecture and urban planning. The cool, fragrant courtyards filled with tropical plants invite meditation as memories of past splendors resurface. Around me, the new Maya watch the visitors with indifference as they gradually reclaim their land and history.

The reportage is now over; perhaps I’ve captured what remains of an era that I may not find upon returning. As I take the road to Guatemala City, the volcano gazes at me defiantly.