The City in a Valley Between Volcanoes — Central America's most populous capital sits in a highland valley ringed by active volcanoes, with a colonial Zone 1 rising from the ruins of the 1917 earthquake, a world-class jade and textile museum, and a food scene that quietly leads the region
Guatemala City (locally: Guate) is the capital and largest city of Guatemala and the most populous city in Central America — a city of 3.3 million in the metropolitan area at 1,500 metres elevation in the Central Highlands, in a valley flanked by the active Pacaya and Acatenango volcanoes visible from the city on clear mornings. Guatemala City is Guatemala's fourth attempt at a capital: the original colonial capital (Antigua Guatemala, 50km west) was destroyed by earthquakes in 1773 and the current city was founded on the Ermita plain. The city's historic core (Zone 1) was itself largely dest…
The site of modern Guatemala City was home to the pre-Columbian city of Kaminaljuyú (700 BCE–900 CE), a major Mayan highland centre whose ruins are partially preserved in a modern park in the city's western zone. The Spanish founded the first capital (Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala) at Iximché in 1524, then moved it to the Valley of Almolonga, then to Antigua Guatemala (1543). After the 1773 Santa Marta earthquake destroyed Antigua, the colonial authorities relocated the capital to the current Hermitage plain in 1776, founding Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. Guatemala achieved indepe…