Antigua is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. Spanish conquistadors founded present-day Antigua in 1543. For more than 200 years it served as the seat of the military governor of the Spanish colony of Guatemala, a large region that included almost all of present-day Central America and the southernmost State of Mexico. In 1773, a series of earthquakes destroyed much of the town. Antigua is noted for its very elaborate religious celebrations during Lent, leading up to Holy Week (Semana Santa) and Easter. Each Sunday in Lent, one of the local parishes sponsors a Procession through the streets of Antigua. There are many Spanish language schools located in Antigua and tourism is a major part of the local economy. Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This article is based on work found at Wikipedia. A list of contributors is available a the original article. This article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license.Antigua Guatemala
Antigua is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. Spanish conquistadors founded present-day Antigua in 1543. For more than 200 years it served as the seat of the military governor of the Spanish colony of Guatemala, a large region that included almost all of present-day Central America and the southernmost State of Mexico. In 1773, a series of earthquakes destroyed much of the town. Antigua is noted for its very elaborate religious celebrations during Lent, leading up to Holy Week (Semana Santa) and Easter. Each Sunday in Lent, one of the local parishes sponsors a Procession through the streets of Antigua. There are many Spanish language schools located in Antigua and tourism is a major part of the local economy. Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This article is based on work found at Wikipedia. A list of contributors is available a the original article. This article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license.