Antigua Guatemala City has suffered drastic changes through time, not only in its architecture, ancestral and social customs but also because it has continuously moved locations through the centuries. Antigua Guatemala is best known for its Colonial Architecture and the abundance of Spanish Language Schools.
The Tikal National Park in the Peten region in Northern Guatemala, compromises an area of 222mi² or 576Km². The park contains some of the most fascinating archaeological remains of the ancient Mayan Civilization. Excavated by Pennsylvania University between 1956 and 1969 Tikal is the largest excavated site in the American Continent. Excavation and restoration in Tikal continued under the Proyecto Nacional Tikal, University of San Carlos in Guatemala and I.D.A.E.H. (Instituto de Antopologia e Historia) unveiling more wonders than may ne imagined. The Institute manages the park. Many mounds covered by a thick layer of jungle for over one thousand years have been left untouched as found by archaeologists. Restoration continues to this day.
Lake Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán) is a large endorheic lake (one that does not flow to the sea) in the Guatemalan Highlands. While Atitlan is recognized to be the deepest lake in Central America, its bottom has not been completely sounded. Estimates of its maximum depth range up to 340 meters. The lake is shaped by deep escarpments which surround it and by three volcanoes on its southern flank. Lake Atitlan is further characterized by towns and villages of the Maya People.
The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
Iximche, a pre-Columbian Mayan site in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, is not as well-known as the major archaeological sites of the Classic Period (250 to 900 AD), but remains a popular site to visit because of its easy accessibility and pleasant setting. This pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, was the capital of the Kaqchikel Maya from 1470 to 1524. It was founded by the Kaqchikel Maya in 1470 after a prolonged conflict with the Kiche Maya forced them to abandon their previous capital Chaviar (present-day Chichicastenango). The new capital did well in its first decades, but was severely damaged by a fire in 1514. In 1519-20 a major epidemic struck Iximche, killing many inhabitants and prompting many others to flee to the countryside.
The northernmost of the Central American nations, Guatemala is the size of Tennessee. Its neighbours are Mexico on the north and west, and Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador on the east. The country consists of three main regions—the cool highlands with the heaviest population, the tropical area along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the tropical jungle in the northern lowlands (known as the Petén).
Antigua Guatemala City has suffered drastic changes through time, not only in its architecture, ancestral and social customs but also because it has continuously moved locations through the centuries. Antigua Guatemala is best known for its Colonial Architecture and the abundance of Spanish Language Schools.
The Tikal National Park in the Peten region in Northern Guatemala, compromises an area of 222mi² or 576Km². The park contains some of the most fascinating archaeological remains of the ancient Mayan Civilization. Excavated by Pennsylvania University between 1956 and 1969 Tikal is the largest excavated site in the American Continent. Excavation and restoration in Tikal continued under the Proyecto Nacional Tikal, University of San Carlos in Guatemala and I.D.A.E.H. (Instituto de Antopologia e Historia) unveiling more wonders than may ne imagined. The Institute manages the park. Many mounds covered by a thick layer of jungle for over one thousand years have been left untouched as found by archaeologists. Restoration continues to this day.
Lake Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán) is a large endorheic lake (one that does not flow to the sea) in the Guatemalan Highlands. While Atitlan is recognized to be the deepest lake in Central America, its bottom has not been completely sounded. Estimates of its maximum depth range up to 340 meters. The lake is shaped by deep escarpments which surround it and by three volcanoes on its southern flank. Lake Atitlan is further characterized by towns and villages of the Maya People.
The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
Iximche, a pre-Columbian Mayan site in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, is not as well-known as the major archaeological sites of the Classic Period (250 to 900 AD), but remains a popular site to visit because of its easy accessibility and pleasant setting. This pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, was the capital of the Kaqchikel Maya from 1470 to 1524. It was founded by the Kaqchikel Maya in 1470 after a prolonged conflict with the Kiche Maya forced them to abandon their previous capital Chaviar (present-day Chichicastenango). The new capital did well in its first decades, but was severely damaged by a fire in 1514. In 1519-20 a major epidemic struck Iximche, killing many inhabitants and prompting many others to flee to the countryside.
The northernmost of the Central American nations, Guatemala is the size of Tennessee. Its neighbours are Mexico on the north and west, and Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador on the east. The country consists of three main regions—the cool highlands with the heaviest population, the tropical area along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the tropical jungle in the northern lowlands (known as the Petén).