Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
terestingly in the shape of a water lily. The pools were once used for breeding fish. The
upper level affords some wonderful city views and the fountain just outside the church is
also worth a look.
Iglesia y Convento de la Recolección
On Avenida de la Recolección, this large church built between 1701 and 1715 was heavily
damaged in 1717 in the same year it was inaugurated. The earthquake of 1773 finished the
job and it has lain in ruins ever since.
Museo de Arte Colonial
On the former site of San Carlos University, the Colonial Art Museum (5a Calle Oriente
#5, tel. 7832-0429, 9 A.M.- 4 P.M. Tues.-Fri., 9 A.M.-noon and 2-4 P.M. Sat.-Sun., $3.50
admission) harbors sculptures of saints, murals, furniture, and colonial paintings by Mex-
ican artists. A beautiful Moorish courtyard dominates the surviving architecture.
Centro Cultural Casa Santo Domingo
Antigua's finest museum is housed inside the Casa Santo Domingo hotel (3a Calle Oriente
#28, tel. 7832-0140, 9 A.M.-6 P.M. Mon.-Sat., 11:15 A.M.-6 P.M. Sun., $5). The site was
once the city's largest and wealthiest monastery, with a church completed in 1666, but it
was damaged and eventually destroyed by the 18th-century earthquakes. Several museums
are housed within the same complex, including the
colonial museum
harboring Catholic
relics, among them an old Roman coin found during the excavations for the hotel's con-
struction. Other highlights of this wonderful historic complex include a gorgeous monas-
tery church, cleared of rubble and restored in the early 1990s. It is now frequently used for
weddings. Below this area are two crypts. The first of these, the
Cripta del Calvario,
has
awell-preservedCrucifixionmural.Theothercryptharborstwograveswithhumanbones.
There is also a small archaeological museum, but the highlight here is the
Museo Vigua
de Arte Precolombino y Vidrio Moderno,
a fantastic, well-presented juxtaposition of co-
lonial and pre-Columbian artifacts mixed with glass art. Rounding out the impressive list
of attractions is the Casa de la Cera, an elaborate candle shop.
Museo de la Semana Santa
Antigua's elaborate Holy Week celebrations have their own museum, housed in the re-
stored
Convento de Sor Juana de Maldonado
(4a Calle Oriente No. 45 'A', 9 A.M.-4
