Home » Guatemala » Antigua Guatemala

Antigua, 27 January 2003

Antigua Guatemala

Odv
2004-09-15 12:23:23

Displayed times (last time: )

On January 20th at 20:46 we experienced an earthquake of 5.4 on the Richter scale. It was quite impressive, with everything moving and shaking, it felt like being on a boat in a storm. The whole thing lasted no more than 30 seconds. At the same time we saw a fireball in the sky, apparently a local tradition at celebrations, but we though for a moment that it might be something from the volcano!

Fortunately nobody got hurt. Several days later Mexico was hit by an earthquake of 7.6 on the Richter scale and more than 20 people died! There are two major fault lines that go through Guatemala, so the country has a lot of seismic activity.

The volcano Fuego erupts several times per day, it sends large piles of smoke high into the sky. It is the only active volcano of the three that surround Antigua and it´s really impressive. The first time I saw it I stopped to take photographs, but the locals continued with their business as if nothing was happening! By now we have gotten used to it as well and only stop to watch on occasion. At night, it is possible to see red hot lava erupt from the volcano, the best place to see this, is from café Sky. A cafe that is located on a roof of a building near our school, from where you have a magnificent view over the town and the surrounding volcanoes.

Antigua Guatemala, as the full name of this town goes, was the capital of Guatemala (actually the entire Spanish colony covering what is now Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and parts of Mexico) until it was hit by an earthquake in 1773. The entire town was destroyed and in 1776 the capital was moved to Guatemala City. Hence the name Antigua Guatemala, which means ancient Guatemala.

Antigua still has the legacy of its time as a capital, the town has a beautiful architecture, cobblestone streets and a beautiful central square, called "parque central".

The reason we came to Antigua was to learn Spanish, we ...