“One of the gods of the ancient Maya was made from corn,” she says. I ask Claudia about these works over dinner. I find exceptional handwoven cloth at Colibrí at Nim Po’t, a one-stop emporium, I browse second-hand Maya clothing (the prettily patterned headdresses of Aguacatan are the standout) and at Luna Zorro Studio I pick up handwoven clothes from a light-flooded, glass-box store. It’s a great place to shop for textiles too. And to wander for hours through its cloistered patios, toppled arches and wrecked but still handsome baroque churches, such as the columned El Carmen and the fantastic white-stuccoed yellow La Merced. It’s easy to be captivated by Antigua’s bougainvillea-covered villas in marmalade, custard and teal. Today, its graceful, arrested development, in the shadow of three volcanoes (two dormant, one spitting fireworks every ten minutes on my visit), is protected by Unesco. Officials ordered locals to resettle in what is now Guatemala City, an hour’s drive away (if the traffic is not against you).īut many panza verde (green belly) residents, who’d thrived in the avocado and coffee-filled Panchoy Valley surrounding Antigua, refused to abandon the city. ![]() As the seat of colonial power, it ruled the whole of Central America until one afternoon in July 1773 when an earthquake caused devastation. As the Very Noble and Very Loyal City of St James of the Knights of Guatemala the city was rich in convents, churches and mansions. The Spanish founded the city now known as Antigua in 1543, making it the third capital (the first was abandoned after the Spanish conquerors’ excessive demands for gold the second was deluged by mud after Agua erupted). It was embroiled in a 36-year civil war until 1996. Volatility has fashioned Guatemala - natural and human. ![]() At the Unesco-protected Maya site of Tikal, there are more and more jaguar sightings. Today, these jungle ruins are home to jaguars, howler monkeys and keel-billed toucans. On stelae and wooden lintels they carved in exquisite detail their battle stories, lives and legends. The Maya built cities of stone, and towering pyramid temples to their rulers who were lauded in life and in death. Northeast of the capital, Guatemala City, are the 300m-long turquoise pools of Semuc Champey, cloud forests harbouring the national bird - the long-tailed emerald green quetzal - and the scattered ruins of the ancient Maya civilisation. The highlands - el Altiplano - are full of indigenous towns, festivals and traditional markets. More than 30 volcanoes, three of them recently active, rise along an east-west highland spine - in Latin America, they are the third most active after those in Ecuador and Mexico. While it doesn’t have a direct flight from the UK, it is (in my opinion) more beautiful with a greater number of active volcanoes and ancient jungle ruins, and a vibrant indigenous culture with very deep roots.īordered by Mexico, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras, it’s twice the size of Costa Rica and a touch bigger than Iceland. Guatemala is overshadowed by its near neighbour Costa Rica, but it shouldn’t be. Luxury hotels and Guatemala weren’t stablemates then but over the past ten years stylish places to stay have emerged in Antigua, and around the country’s sublime crater lake, Atitlan, whose shore is home to indigenous Maya villages. I first came to Guatemala 25 years ago as a backpacker. The white hacienda-style building with a terrace, enveloped by six acres of gardens blooming with magnolias, guavas, cypresses and date palms and overlooking a lagoon, is just a few minutes’ drive from the small city. ![]() I’m drinking rich, earthy coffee, grown on cone-shaped Agua at Villa Bokeh, a new Relais & Châteaux hotel in the green outskirts of Antigua- a city in Guatemala, not the better-known Caribbean island. The volcano, at more than 12,000ft, is a cinematic backdrop to my breakfast. Saturday September 09 2023, 12.01am, The Times
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