Old photos of Antigua Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala, in a highland valley beneath the Agua, Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes, was founded in 1543 as Santiago de los Caballeros, the third site of the Spanish capital of Guatemala after earlier settlements were destroyed. For more than two centuries it was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which governed most of Central America, and the seat of a bishop, a university and numerous religious orders.

The city was built on a grid around a central plaza in the Spanish colonial manner, with a cathedral, a palace of the captains general and dozens of churches and convents in a distinctive local baroque style, with thick walls and low, squat towers designed to resist earthquakes. It was nevertheless shaken repeatedly, and the Santa Marta earthquakes of 1773 caused so much destruction that the crown ordered the capital moved to the site of present-day Guatemala City. The old city was partly abandoned and became known simply as Antigua, the old one. Its ruined churches, cobbled streets and single-storey houses with courtyards survived largely intact, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Old photographs of Antigua typically show the ruined convents and cathedral, the Santa Catalina arch, cobbled streets with volcanoes behind them, and market days on the central plaza.

What the photos show

The 56 photographs of Antigua Guatemala on PlaceWas span 5 decades, from 1877 to 2024. 14 of them were taken before 1980; the other 42 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.9 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.56 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.