Colourful character ... the World Heritage-listed old city.Credit: AFP
Along cobblestone streets, Melanie Ball discovers fresh coffee and traditional weaving in a city flanked by volcanoes.
The massive earthquake that hit La muy Noble y muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala on July 29, 1773 - collapsing tremor-weakened mansions, schools, hospitals and churches - actually saved the city, by forcing the Spanish to move their colonial capital.
More than two centuries and three devastating earthquakes later, Guatemala City, 45 kilometres north-east, is the agglomeration that the former capital could have become while La Antigua (Old) Guatemala, as it became known, is a World Heritage-listed city.
Ringed by three volcanoes more than 3700 metres high, Antigua is a pedestrian-friendly lattice of cobbled streets lined with church ruins and restored one- and two-storey buildings in shades of blue and ochre.
Iron-grilled windows look out on footpaths unspoilt by litter or power poles (lines run underground) and studded wooden doors give entry to family hotels, galleries, cafes and Spanish-language schools.
5am
If woken before dawn by a salvo of explosions outside your window, don't panic. It is probably one of the religious processions that wind through Antigua through the year but more frequently during Holy Week and the Month of the Rosary (October). Dress quickly and join the candle-carrying Catholics breathing firecracker smoke and singing to flute and drum. Most processions start and end at 16th-century Iglesia de La Merced (Church of the Mercy); the waterlily-shaped fountain within the monastery ruins behind this beautiful yellow church is said to be the largest in Hispanic America.
Iglesia de La Merced, top end of 5a Av Norte; ruins open daily, 9am-6.30pm, $1.
7am
Start your day with in-house roasted coffee and pancakes or home-made granola in the leafy courtyard at Fernando's Kaffee. Empanadas with five fillings are on the lunch menu and souvenir packs of Fair Trade coffee beans available all day.
Fernando's Kaffee, cnr 7a Av Norte & Calle Camposeco; see fernandos-kaffee.com, open Monday-Saturday, 7am-7pm; Sunday 7am-1pm. Breakfast, $5.
8am
Walk west to the main market and lose yourself in a maze of clothes, cooking pots, grains, eggs, chickens, chillies, fruit and vegetables. Then buy some tomatoes or limes from one of the traditionally dressed Mayan women selling their wares on the pavements outside the covered stalls. Head to the artisan market, immediately south, and succumb to temptation in the guise of multicoloured embroidered and woven bags, cushion covers and belts.
Market area, jnc Calzada de Santa Lucia & 4a Calle Poniente. Produce market Monday, Thursday, Saturday from 8am; Mercado de Artesanias, daily, 8am-8pm.
10am
Continue your textile appreciation at Casa del Tejido Antiguo, a workshop-museum-shop a block north. Watch women weaving brightly coloured huipiles (traditional square-cut blouses) on back-strap looms and see many of the different floral, animal and geometric designs specific to individual villages and language groups. The entry fee includes an English-speaking guide.
Casa del Tejido Antiguo, 1a Calle Poniente #51. Monday-Saturday, 9am-5.30pm, $1.
11am
Walk 300 metres along 1a Calle Poniente to ruined Iglesia y Convento de la Recoleccion. Damaged by an earth tremor soon after inauguration in 1717, this complex collapsed in the 1773 earthquake. Wander among the massive pieces of fallen stonework before clambering up to the surviving second-floor balcony for an overview.
Iglesia y Convento de la Recoleccion, end of Calle de la Recoleccion, open daily, 9am-5pm, $4.
Noon
Having backtracked to the market, stroll along 3a Calle Poniente to Adrenalina Tours and book a half-day tour for the next morning to Pacaya volcano to toast marshmallows on glowing lava. Then pop into gourmet delicatessen Tienda Delicio, S.A. for lunch supplies - perhaps cold meats and cheese, crusty bread and a home-made pastry or sinfully delicious Chocotenango chocolate. Carry them two blocks south to Parque Central, Antigua's treed plaza, and picnic among Antiguenos watching life ebb and flow.
Adrenalina Tours, 3a Calle Poniente #2-D, Pacaya volcano tour $10 plus park entry; Tienda Delicio, S.A., 3a Calle Poniente #2, open Monday-Saturday, 9.30am-6.30pm; lunch, $5-$7.
2pm
Catedral de Santiago, facing the plaza, is one of Antigua's least interesting churches, with only the restored foyer still used. However, the ruined main cathedral chamber, entered separately, is a dramatic open space. Soaring columns and arches that somehow - miraculously, perhaps - survived several earthquakes draw curves and angles against the sky.
Catedral de Santiago ruins, Parque Central, open 9am-5pm; entry, 50¢.
3pm
Four blocks east is Casa Santo Domingo, the city's most upmarket hotel, with colonial-style accommodation within 16th-century Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo. Visitors can wander the extensive grounds, which encompass fountains, statues, the ruined church, cloisters and crypts - Calvary Crypt has a 17th-century polychrome stucco crucifixion scene. There are also archaeological, pharmacology and handcraft museums and a Pre-Columbian Art and Modern Glass exhibition that partners Mayan antiquities with contemporary artworks from around the world.
Casa Santo Domingo, 3a Calle Oriente #28, see casasantodomingo.com.gt. Open daily, 9am-6pm; visitors, $6.
5pm
Wander back towards the centre, detouring down streets with trailing bougainvillea and intriguing doorways but ending up at the Arco de Santa Catalina on 5 Av Norte. An Antiguan landmark, which makes a perfect frame for volcanoes in photographs, this arch was built in the 17th century so nuns could cross the road unseen. Several doors up is Nim Po't, a treasury of Guatemalan craft with everything arranged by region; the problem is choosing from the hundreds of masks, weavings and embroideries.
Nim Po't, 5a Av Norte #29, open daily, 10am to late.
7pm
Dine on tipico Guatemalan food at La Cuevita de las Urquizas. Mouth-watering aromas waft from the earthenware pots of pepian de pollo (chicken in a sauce of tomato, sesame, pumpkin seeds and more) and other dishes simmering out front, so you might get drawn into this eatery even if headed elsewhere. Locals love this place so go early to avoid waiting.
La Cuevita de las Urquizas, 2 Calle Oriente #9D, open lunch and dinner.
10pm
Ask around about the salsa hot spot - it changes - and end your day grooving. Have a go or watch the locals doing salsa and merengue. Women don't need to wear a micro dress and staggering heels to master the steps and slicked back hair is not de rigueur for men - but it appears to help.
Melanie Ball travelled courtesy of Intrepid.
Delta has a fare to Guatemala City for about $2900, flying from Sydney to Los Angeles (13hr 45min), then Guatemala City (4hr 40min). Fare is low-season return, including tax. Melbourne passengers fly Virgin Blue to Sydney to connect and pay about $100 more. There are regular shuttle services from the airport to Antigua, a distance of about 45km.. Australians don't require a visa for Guatemala but need visa authorisation to enter the country via the US. Intrepid has 16 trips to Guatemala. The 31-day Central America Encompassed includes Mexico, Belize and Guatemala and finishes inAntigua. It costs $2295 a person (ex-Mexico City), including transport and budget accommodation (most meals extra). Phone 1300 364 512, see intrepidtravel.com.
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