Travel Reference
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TheformercapitalofGuatemala,nowknownasCiudadVieja,wasthefirstofGuatemala's
capitals to suffer merciless destruction at the hands of nature. It was built on the slopes of
Agua Volcano; an earthquake on the evening of September 10, 1541, unleashed a torrent
of mud and water that came tumbling down the volcano's slopes and destroyed the city.
The new Muy Leal y Muy Noble Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala, as
it would officially come to be known, was established on March 10, 1543, in the Panchoy
Valley. The new capital would be no stranger to the ravages of nature, its first earthquake
being endured by its inhabitants only 20 years after the city's founding.
An earthquake in 1717 spurred an unprecedented building boom, with the city reaching
its peak in the mid-18th century. At that time, its population would number around 60,000.
Antigua was the capital of the Audiencia de Guatemala, under the jurisdiction of the larger
ViceroyaltyofNewSpain,whichencompassedmostofpresent-dayMexicoandallofCen-
tral America as far south as Costa Rica. The Viceroyalty's capital was in Mexico City,
which along with Lima, Peru, would be the only other New World cities exceeding An-
tigua's political, cultural, and economic importance. Antigua boasted Central America's
first printing press and one of the hemisphere's first universities and was known as an im-
portant center of arts and education. Among its outstanding citizens were conquistador and
historian Bernal DÃaz del Castillo, Franciscan friar and Indian rights advocate Bartolomé
