Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Visits are by guided tour (available in English). You pass through a labyrinth of gleam-
ing brass, polished wood, carved stone and frescoed arches. Features include an optimistic
mural of Guatemalan history by Alberto Gálvez Suárez above the main stairway, and a
two-ton gold, bronze and Bohemian- crystal chandelier in the reception hall. The banquet-
ing hall sports stained-glass panels depicting - with delicious irony - the virtues of good
government. From here your guide will probably take you out onto the presidential bal-
cony, where you can imagine yourself a banana-republic dictator reviewing your troops.
In the western courtyard, the Patio de la Paz, a monument depicting two hands, stands
where Guatemala's Peace Accords were signed in 1996; each day at 11am the rose held
by the hands is changed by a military guard and the one from the previous day is tossed to
a woman among the spectators.
Centro Cultural Metropolitano
CULTURAL CENTER
(7a Av 11-67, Zona 1; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
To the rear of the ground floor of the
palacio de
correos
(post office) you'll find a surprisingly avant-garde cultural center, hosting art ex-
hibitions, book launches, handicraft workshops and film nights.
Casa MIMA
(8a Av 14-12, Zona 1; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat)
A wonderfully presented museum and cultural center
set in a house dating from the late 1800s. The owners of the house were collectors with
eclectic tastes ranging from French neo-rococo, Chinese, and art deco to indigenous arti-
facts. The place is set up like a functioning house, filled with curios and furniture span-
ning the centuries.
CULTURAL CENTER
Railway Museum
(Museo de Ferrocarril; ; 9a Av 18-03, Zona 1; 9am-5pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun)
This is one of the
city's more intriguing museums. Documented here are the glory days of the troubled
Guatemalan rail system, along with some quirky artifacts, such as hand-drawn diagrams
of derailments and a kitchen set up with items used in dining cars. You can go climbing
around the passenger carriages, but not the locomotives.
MUSEUM
Catedral Metropolitana
CATHEDRAL
