Guatemala City - Plaza Mayor

Parque Centenario (Centenary Park) is where Central American Independence was proclaimed in 1821. The center of the original colonial government was located where shoe shiners now gather.

The Mercado Central is a big market featuring handicrafts plus fresh food and livestock. An earthquake destroyed the original market building adjacent to the square in 1976.

Portal del Comercio, a neo-classical building c 1788 dating from the colonial period is home to a variety of shops, cafes and street vendors' stalls where arts and crafts from all over the country are sold.

Twin-towered Catedral Metropolitana was completed in 1815 and represents the neo-classical architecture of the 19th C.

Catedral Metropolitana shelters many works of art that were originally in the Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala. The image of the Virgen del Perpetuo Socorro is the oldest image in Guatemala and it was brought into the country by Hernan Cortés in 1522.

The Cathedral has survived through three earthquakes, in 1830, 1917 and 1976.