Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from the 16th to 18th centuries, while
Museo Arqueológico
has ceramic and stone objects from
the Maya Classic period.
Museo de Arte Precolombino y Vidrio Moderno
has glass works by modern artists and the pre-
Hispanic ceramic pieces that inspired them.
Museo de Artes y Artesanías Populares de Sacatepéquez
shows exhibits on traditional handicrafts from the Antigua region, while
Museo de la Farmacia
has a restored version of a 19th-century apothecary's shop from Guatemala City.
Iglesia de San Francisco
CHURCH, MONASTERY
(cnr 8a Calle Oriente & Calle do los Pasos; museum/monastery joint admission adult/child Q5/2; 9am-4:30pm)
The church is imbued with the spirit of Santo Hermano Pedro de San José de Bethancourt,
a Franciscan monk who founded a hospital for the poor in Antigua and earned the gratit-
ude of generations (also see the boxed text,
Click here
)
. On the south side are the ruins of
the adjoining monastery, with some vivid frescoes still visible amidst the rubble.
Hermano Pedro's intercession is still sought by the ill, who pray fervently by his tomb,
housed in an elaborate pavilion north of the church since his canonization in 2002. De-
votees may enter via a garden north of the church. A museum houses relics from the
church and Santo Hermano's well-preserved personal belongings.
Convento de Capuchinas
CONVENT
(Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza; ; cnr 2a Av Norte & 2a Calle Oriente; adult/student Q30/
15; 9am-5pm)
Inaugurated in 1736 by nuns from Madrid, the convent of Las Capuchinas
was seriously damaged by the 1773 earthquake and thereafter abandoned. But thanks to
meticulous renovations in recent decades, it's possible to get a sense of the life experien-
ced by those nuns, who ran an orphanage and women's hospital.
Wander round to admire the fine cloister with its stout columns and high arched pas-
sageways, remarkably restored wash basins and well-tended gardens. At the rear you'll
find the convent's most unique feature, a towerlike structure of 18 nuns' cells built around
a circular patio.
Iglesia y Convento de Santa Clara
(2a Av, btwn 6a & 7a Calles Oriente; admission Q40; 9am-5pm)
Established by sisters from Puebla,
Mexico, Santa Clara was inaugurated in 1734, destroyed four decades later by the great
MONASTERY
