Paul F. Ayres Photography

09/10/2026

A cobblestone street in Antigua, Guatemala lined with homes. Stucco walls, iron-barred windows, and clay tile roofs are the standard colonial style here, built low after repeated earthquakes made taller construction impractical. Antigua has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

09/10/2026

Worn cement sidewalk tiles in Antigua, Guatemala. Pressed cement tiles like these were made in local workshops from the late 1800s onward and were laid in patios, hallways, and sidewalks across the city.

09/10/2026

The Cathedral of San José seen through the stone arcade of the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales in Antigua, Guatemala. The palace was the seat of Spanish colonial government for all of Central America from the mid-1500s until the capital moved to Guatemala City after the 1773 earthquake. Its two-story arcade runs the full south side of Parque Central.

09/10/2026

The Santa Catalina Arch on 5a Avenida Norte in Antigua, Guatemala, at dusk, with Volcán de Agua framed through the opening. The arch was built in 1694 so the cloistered nuns of the Santa Catalina convent could cross to their school on the other side of the street without being seen in public. The clock tower was added in the 1830s. The arch survived the 1773 earthquake that forced the capital to move to Guatemala City.

09/10/2026

The Fountain of the Mermaids in Parque Central, Antigua, Guatemala, at dusk. The fountain was built in 1738 by Diego de Porres, the city’s chief architect. It survived the 1773 earthquake that leveled much of the city and still anchors the main plaza, where vendors, families, and pigeons gather every evening.

09/10/2026

09/10/2026

The facade of the Cathedral of San José on the central plaza of Antigua, Guatemala, hung with blue and white banners for the country’s independence celebrations on September 15. The baroque front dates to 1680, and its niches hold statues of the apostles and saints. The 1773 earthquake brought down most of the building, and only the front section was rebuilt as a working church. The rest still stands in ruins behind it.

09/05/2026

A Spanish colonial revival home in Guatemala City, with mountains that ring the valley concealed by clouds in the background. White stucco walls, a clay barrel tile roof, arched windows, and a wrought iron balcony are the hallmarks of the style, which spread through the city’s older residential districts in the early 1900s.

09/05/2026

Volcán de Agua rising above the highway through the Pacific lowlands of Guatemala after an afternoon storm. The volcano stands 3,760 meters and has not erupted in recorded history. Its name comes from a disaster in the year 1541, when heavy rain filled the summit crater, triggering a mudflow that destroyed Santiago de los Caballeros, the country’s first capital, at present-day Ciudad Vieja.