Guatemala city

The Guatemala City, whose official name is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, is the capital of the Republic of Guatemala and the most populous and cosmopolitan city in Central America; It is the seat of the government powers that govern the country's politics, as well as the seat of the Central American Parliament. It is divided into 25 zones and is also the capital of the Department of Guatemala. It has been named as "Green Capital of the Americas" in the years 2019 and 2021 and was chosen as the best city to do business with cost effectiveness, according to the ranking "FDI American Cities of the Future 19/ 20".

This city is located in the south-central area of Guatemala at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level, and has a large number of green areas. According to the last census carried out in that city, 2,934,841 people live there, but considering its metropolitan area according to the National Institute of Statistics, it reaches an estimate of 5,103,685 inhabitants in 2018, which makes it the largest agglomeration The most populous and extensive urban area in Central America. In addition, Guatemala City, which is currently the capital of the Gran Ciudad del Sur community, ranks first among the 20 most important cities in Guatemala, and is the main city within its area. metropolitan.

New Guatemala de la Asunción is the fourth settlement in the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. The reason for his transfer to Valle de la Ermita were the earthquakes in Santa Marta, which largely destroyed the city of Santiago de Guatemala, the former capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. The transfer order was decreed on December 1, 1775 and on January 2 of the following year there was a meeting for the first time in the town hall of the new city. A plaque, which is in front of the Parish of the Holy Cross, just at the beginning of the Milla y Vidaurre road named after the writer and diplomat José Milla y Vidaurre, commemorates this fact. The name of the new city was decreed by the King of Spain on January 23, 1776.

Its development has increased in recent years despite natural disasters, mostly earthquakes, which have devastated the city and its surroundings. The last one that affected it was the 1976 earthquake that seriously damaged the modern built structure and the one that was under construction, as well as historical relics such as the churches of Nuestra Señora de la Merced, La Recolección, Nuestra Señora del Cerrito del Carmen — first church built in the valley around 1620—, and the building of the Central Market.

Toponymy

Many of the names of the municipalities and towns in Guatemala consist of two parts: the name of the Catholic saint venerated on the day they were founded and a description with Nahuatl roots; in the case of Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, the name was given in honor of the Virgin of the Assumption.

The place name “Guatemala”

The first historical documents in which the name of Guatemala appears written are the letters of relationship that Pedro de Alvarado sent to Hernán Cortés in 1524. In the aforementioned letters, the name of Guatemala is written in the same way in which it is ago now and that it is surely the hispanicization of the word Quauhtemalan ("place of many trees") of Nahuatl origin, which was the name by which the Cakchiquel city and nation was known by the Mexican auxiliaries who accompanied the Alvarado and Cortés.

The place name “New Guatemala”

After the Santa Marta earthquakes that partially destroyed the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala in 1773, that city was abandoned by all the royal and municipal authorities who moved to the valley of the hermitage to establish a “new city » between 1774 and 1778.

Physical geography

Geographic location

Guatemala City is located in the "Valle de la Ermita" with altitudes that vary between 1,500-1,700 (masl) and average temperatures range between 10 and 25 °C.

• Altitude: 1,500 meters.
• Latitude: 14°37'15"N
• Length: 90°31'36 O
• Extension: 996 km

The city is completely surrounded by municipalities of the department of the same name:

Northwest: Mixco and Chinautla	North: Chinautla, San Pedro Ayampuc and Palencia	Northeast: Palencia
West: Mixco and Villa Nueva		This: Palencia
Southwest: Villa Nueva	South: Villa Nueva, Santa Catarina Pinula, Villa Canales y San Miguel Petapa	Sureste: Santa Catarina Pinula

Climate

Guatemala City has a tropical savannah climate, made milder by altitude and influenced by monsoons (Köppen climate classification: Aw). due to its elevation above sea level sea (1500-.1700 masl), so it tends to have a very mild climate, almost similar to the spring season throughout the year, it is located in the tropic of cancer, which is why there are no four defined seasons as in the northern or southern hemispheres, however due to the hours of light throughout the year which have a variation of only two hours; It is more similar to the seasons of the northern hemisphere.

There are two very well marked seasons in the year:

The rainy season runs from May to October and the dry season from November to April.

Based on the daylight hours in the year, it could be said that summer runs from June to September with temperatures ranging between 16 and 28 °C, generally presenting partially sunny mornings with rising temperatures and afternoons of rain or storms, the thermal sensation in this season can be a little higher in the heatwave period or recession of the rains, which generally occurs between the months of July and August; presenting the highest humidity levels throughout the year.

The autumn, as in most tropical countries, is barely perceptible. In Guatemala City it goes from the end of September to the end of December and is characterized mainly by the increase in rainfall at the beginning of the season (September-October), due to the entry of the first cold fronts from the north, the decrease in temperatures and the increase in wind speed.

Cayalá City, located at 1,600 m. n. m. inside the city.

The winter runs from the end of December to the end of March and is characterized by the decrease in temperatures mainly in the months of January and February where the record minimum temperatures (2 °C) have been recorded. with thermal sensations of up to five degrees less due to the speed of the wind.

The spring is the hottest season in the City and also in the interior of the country, due to this most people usually call it summer, it lasts from the end of March to the end of June and is characterized mainly by the flowering of various trees in the city (matilisguates, jacarandas, white sticks, flamboyants, among others) as well as by the constant south wind, sunrises with fog banks and the highest temperatures throughout the year which They can sometimes exceed 30 °C.

The climate in Guatemala is highly influenced by the natural phenomena of El Niño and La Niña, which can completely change the parameters of the atmospheric conditions; deriving extreme situations of droughts, tropical cyclones, floods and unusual maximum and minimum temperatures.

Guatemala City average climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	30.0	32.1	32.0	33.9	33.9	31.2	29.1	30.2	29.8	28.6	29.9	28.8	33.9
Average temperature (°C)	24.3	25.8	26.8	27.8	27.1	25.8	25.4	25.5	25.1	24.7	24.2	23.9	25.5
Average temperature (°C)	18.7	19.7	20.7	21.9	21.9	21.3	20.8	21.0	20.7	20.3	19.4	18.8	20.4
Temp. medium (°C)	13.2	13.6	14.6	16.0	16.8	16.8	16.3	16.5	16.4	16.0	14.7	13.7	15.4
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	6.0	7.8	8.4	8.6	12.3	11.2	12.1	13.5	13.0	11.4	9.4	7.6	6.0
Rains (mm)	2.8	5.4	6.0	31.0	128.9	271.8	202.6	202.7	236.6	131.6	48.8	6.6	1274.8
Days of rain (≥ 1 mm)	1.68	1.45	2.00	4.73	12.36	21.14	18.59	19.04	20.82	14.59	6.18	2.64	125.2
Hours of sun	248.4	236.2	245.6	237.9	184.4	155.3	183.4	191.8	159.0	178.0	211.7	209.2	2440.9
Relative humidity (%)	74.3	73.4	73.2	74.3	77.3	82.4	80.8	80.9	84.5	82.0	79.2	76.0	77.8
Source: National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology of Guatemala

Great Southern City Commonwealth

Grand City of the South Community, consisting of 7 municipalities of the Department of Guatemala

On May 28, 2012, the Gran Ciudad del Sur Commonwealth was created with the purpose of solving the most common problems within the jurisdiction of the 7 cities that make it up, such problems include problems with transportation, rescue of Lake Amatitlán, security, neighborhoods and real communities, education, health, solid waste treatment and infrastructure. Currently, the headquarters of said commonwealth is located in the Commerce Center of zone 4 of Villa Nueva, next to the Municipal Market. Said Commonwealth is made up of the cities of Amatitlán, Guatemala City, Mixco, San Miguel Petapa, Santa Catarina Pinula, Villa Canales and Villa Nueva.

Integration of Guatemala City to the Commonwealth

On October 2, 2019, Guatemala City was incorporated into the Mancomunidad, this with the purpose of providing public services jointly and making it easier to attract resources for projects in the planning phase. Among the projects that the The mayor of Guatemala City along with the other six elected mayors promote the construction of 11 overpasses by 2020.

Location of the cities of the Great Town of the South.
Click to see interactive map.

History

Origins

Torre del Reformador located in Zone 9 of the City.

Kaminaljuyú archaeological site in 1890. Photograph by Alfred Percival Maudslay.

Within the confines of modern Guatemala City is the ancient Mayan city of Kaminaljuyú. Kaminaljuyú dates back about two thousand years and is known to have traded with distant Teotihuacán in central Mexico. The center of Kaminaljuyú was located a short distance from the oldest part of Guatemala City, and in the 20th century the city grew around the ruins. (and in some cases over some of the outlying ruins before they were protected). The ceremonial center of Kaminal Juyú is now a park within Guatemala City.

In Spanish colonial times it was a small city with a monastery called El Carmen, founded in 1620. The headquarters of the General Captaincy of Guatemala, dependent on the Viceroyalty of New Spain, was moved to the valley of La Ermita in 1775, and the city acquired the name of Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción.

Capital City Transfer

See also:Images of city colonial buildings in Commons

Archbishop Cayetano Francos and Monroy. He arrived in Guatemala in 1779 and promoted the education of the Guatemalan General Office. He was the founder of the San José de los Infantes College.

Camino del Guarda Viejo, part of the Camino del Golfo, in 1875. In 1931 he was renamed Bolivar Avenue in honor of the Liberator Simón Bolívar. Photograph by Eadweard Muybridge.

Pinula aqueduct. It emerged from water to the New Guatemala of the Assumption between 1774 and 1938.

After the “Santa Marta” earthquakes in 1773, the Spanish authorities decided that Guatemala City had to change location to avoid another event of the same magnitude, since they considered that the telluric movements were caused by volcanoes neighbors to the city; it was necessary to begin a pilgrimage in search of a new site that offered the inhabitants safety and profit. After long discussions, those who supported the transfer of the city imposed their opinion and left for the "Valle de la Ermita", while the opposition stayed in Santiago de los Caballeros to rebuild the city.

Having done studies on the most appropriate places to settle the new city, allusion was necessarily made to the facilities to provide water to the new capital, mentioning that in the Pinula river, on the plain of "la Culebra", there were already an intake that provided water to the few residents of the valley and was accompanied by a plan made by the chief architect Bernardo Ramírez, chief master builder and plumber of the "Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción." Thus, the aqueduct project in Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción began with the proposal when analyzing the transfer of the capital after the 1773 earthquake.

On February 19, 1774, when the chief architect signed another report on the transfer of the city, mention was made of the work on the mound of "la Culebra" to build what would later be the Pinula Aqueduct. The mound was also called "Loma de Talpetate" and divided the plain of "la Culebra" with that of "la Ermita". There was a drawback: the shallows that formed the Culebra plain; however, it was thought that it could be saved by means of archery, but the problem would be that the cost was considerable, and the work would also be exposed to the effects of earthquakes. Despite the cost, the project continued.

By October of that year, approximately one thousand nine hundred Spaniards were already established in Valle de la Ermita, taking their place in two hundred and seventy-eight ranches and two thousand four hundred mestizos or browns, who were housed in three hundred and ninety-eight ranches. The recently moved inhabitants lived together with the original settlers of Valle de la Ermita, who added a total of five thousand nine hundred and seventeen people housed in nine hundred and twenty-five ranches. The extension of the "Valley of the Hermitage" was nine square leagues, twenty-two caballerias, one hundred ninety-nine cuerdas and four thousand three hundred and seventy-five superficial varas. The official transfer of the new city was on January 2, 1776. The transfer together with the construction of the new capital constituted an extraordinary event in the history of Latin America, being also a special case of legal foundation, but not physical. The two sides had marked and irreconcilable differences; On the one hand, the Creoles —descendants of the conquistadors— who did not belong to the capital's aristocracy and who were led by Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz, and on the other side were the Spaniards —who were the peninsular authorities appointed by the king of Spain- and the aristocratic Creoles -the members of the City Council- who were against the transfer of the city and were directed by the president of the Royal Audience of Guatemala, the then governor and Captain General Martín de Mayorga, the oidores and some residents who They were in favor of moving the capital to a place that was safer from earthquakes and far from volcanoes.

Officially founded on January 2, 1776, the city covered an area of approximately 10 x 20 blocks. For water supply, it had the Pinula Aqueduct, which began in "El Cambray" -where in 1994 it was built the shopping center "Galerías La Pradera" - and reached the end of the royal street of Pamplona -known as "Liberation Boulevard" from 1954-. A carefully analyzed system of unevenness for the aqueduct caused the water to increase speed and, with it, pressure to reach its final destination. Together with the Pinula aqueduct, the Mixco aqueduct formed a water supply system that was in service from 1786.

On November 26, 1777, by consultation of the Chamber, Cayetano Francos y Monroy was appointed Archbishop of Guatemala, an appointment that was difficult since it was in substitution of Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz, who refused to accept the transfer of his diocese to the new Guatemala City, after the capital of the captaincy, Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala was destroyed by earthquakes. On October 7, 1779, he made his public entrance, with an escort of eight knights, into the new Guatemala City the new Archbishop Cayetano Francos y Monroy. A month earlier, Pedro Cortés y Larraz published a pastoral letter denouncing the arrival of a usurper and threatening to excommunicate him, but Francos y Monroy immediately took his first steps, appointing a priest in the indigenous town of Jocotenango and went to search for the destroyed Santiago de the Knights of Guatemala to the beatas of Santa Rosa. He had decided that in November 1779 he was going to move the images and spent a great deal of money to finish the construction of the Carmelite and Capuchin monasteries. Cortés y Larraz did not want to continue resisting and fled at the beginning of October. On December 6, 1782, Francos y Monroy informed the king that he had transferred to the new city the cathedral, the seminary school, the convents of religious men and women, beaterios and other bodies subject to the Mitra; all of them had been moved to formal buildings or under construction. Now, to finish these works it had been necessary for him to leave the work of the Archbishop's palace aside and he had to live, until then, in a rented house with great discomfort and narrowness, lacking the main offices and room for his family.

Main Square

Lieutenant General Matías de Gálvez, captain general of Guatemala. During his management he took over the first phase of the construction of the New Guatemala of the Assumption.

The Plaza de Armas was the civic and political center of the City from its foundation until the beginning of the civil governments that were established in 1985. The architect Marco Ibáñez, the designer Antonio Bernasconi and the engineer Joaquín de Isasi were in charge of the drawing up of the plans for the new Cathedral of Santiago and after two years they managed to have the plans approved by Royal Decree of November 6, 1779, which arrived in Guatemala in February 1780. The new captain general, lieutenant Distinguished Spanish general and gentleman Matías de Gálvez took charge of the reconstruction of the City until he was promoted to Viceroy of Mexico in 1783, for his great services in defeating and expelling the English on the island of Roatán in Honduras.

The Archbishop of Guatemala, Cayetano Francos y Monroy, blessed the site and laid the first stone of the Cathedral in 1782. Construction work formally began on August 13, 1783, and lasted until March 15, In 1815, the venerated image of Nuestra Señora del Socorro was taken in procession from its throne in the Provisional Cathedral in the Beaterio Santa Rosa, which was placed on the main altar of its chapel, where it has remained since then. By 1815, it was Most of the temple was finished and the organ was transferred to it, as well as numerous images of saints in addition to the image of Nuestra Señora del Socorro, which were transferred in solemn procession. The church was officially inaugurated on that date with a solemn Thanksgiving mass.

For its part, the Royal Palace, or Palace of the Executive was the headquarters of the executive power of the State of Guatemala since the transfer of the capital from the General Captaincy of Guatemala to the valley of the Ermita in 1776 until it was destroyed by the earthquakes of December 1917 and January 1918.

Carrera Theatre

Teatro Carrera, built by General Rafael Carrera in the 1850s.

Guatemala City view from the Cerrito del Carmen in 1870.

In the 1850s, Captain General Rafael Carrera ordered the construction of a majestic National Theater that was named in his honor as "Teatro Carrera", located in the Plaza Vieja. The Plaza Vieja was a site located to the northeast from the city of Guatemala and that in 1776 sheltered the founding stone of the New Guatemala of the Assumption after the first town council was celebrated and the act of settlement was signed, on January 2 of that year. This place had been chosen to be the Plaza Mayor of the new city, reserving spaces next to it for the construction of the Archbishop's Palace and the Cathedral, as well as for the construction, in the surroundings, of lots for the families of the Aycinena Clan., since Fermín de Aycinena, the first patriarch of the clan, had collaborated greatly with the expenses of the transfer.

Due to alterations in the design of the city plan, carried out by the Royal Architects of the Spanish crown, the main square had to be moved to the west, although construction of the Palace had already been completed in 1791 Archbishop that served as the residence of Archbishop Fray Ramón Casaus y Torres and the church of Santa Rosa, which temporarily functioned as a Cathedral between 1787 and 1815. When the Plaza Mayor was definitively moved to its new site, the original site became known as the Plaza Old, and continued to serve as a park, it was surrounded by a bench that also served as a railing, and five large access doors - three for pedestrians and two for carriages. In addition, it had two fountains for public service, and military exercises and religious activities were held there.

Later on it became a place of commerce and on August 6, 1832, the then governor of Guatemala, Mariano Gálvez issued a decree ordering the erection of a building that would serve as a theater in the middle of Plaza Vieja. But the political situation of the country with constant civil wars between liberals and conservatives and an indigenous uprising led by Rafael Carrera that ended up overthrowing Gálvez in 1838, did not allow the theater to be built.

The project was resumed in 1852 when Juan Matheu and Manuel Francisco Pavón Aycinena presented Rafael Carrera with a new plan. Once the project was approved, Carrera commissioned Matheu himself and Miguel Ruiz de Santisteban to build the theater. When the work began, the engineer Miguel Rivera Maestre was in charge, but he resigned shortly after, being replaced by José Beckers, a professional specialized in Germany, who built the markedly Hellenistic facades and added a lobby. The construction of this theater was the first monumental project of the republican era in the country, taking advantage of the fact that it was finally experiencing a time of peace and prosperity.

Expansion during the liberal governments of 1871-1920

Guatemala City in 1911.

Temple of Minerva, which the licensee Manuel Estrada Cabrera, president of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920, built at the North Hippodrome to celebrate the Festivals Minervalias in honor of the "Juventud Estudiosa". The temple was demolished in 1952 by the government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz. Recorded published in the Guatemalan Blue Book in 1915.

Fachada Iglesia de Yurrita en la Zona 4 de la ciudad de Guatemala; Felipe Yurrita, owner of the Ferrol coffee farm located in the department of San Marcos, built the church of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias in the city of Guatemala to fulfill a promise to the Virgin that he believed saved him and his workers from the eruption of the volcano Santa Maria of 1902.

The city's expansion process to the south began after the triumph of the Liberal Reform in 1871; During the government of General Justo Rufino Barrios, the subdivision of Potrero de Bolaños was established, in the extreme southwest of the city, which later became the "La Paz" canton. In 1881 the canton of "la Candelaria" and "la Parroquia" were annexed to the city and in 1882 the plains of the Hospital San Juan de Dios were subdivided, creating the canton "Elena" In 1883, to the south of the canton of " La Paz» arises «La Reformita» and two years later in San Pedro las Huertas -since the 1950s known as the neighborhood of San Pedrito- in the extreme southeast of the city, the canton «La Independencia».

In 1887 the Tempiscal arises and in 1889 the Matamoros plain, to the east of the city, was subdivided. Already in the government of General Manuel Lisandro Barillas on the plain of "Palomo" in the extreme southwest appears the canton "Cervantes", and to the south, those of "Barrios" and "Barillas".

The boulevard "30 de junio" -later called "Avenida de La Reforma" was the first commercial expansion corridor to the south, during the government of General José María Reyna Barrios; A public garden, the artillery barracks, the National Agricultural Institute for Indigenous Peoples, and the buildings for the Central American Exposition to the east of the highway were built on this boulevard. At the end of the boulevard the "Palacio Reforma" was built, which was used as a national museum and was located where the Obelisk of Independence was later built. The Exposición canton, in the area of the boulevard June 30, was created as a area for the national and foreign coffee elite. By 1894, the "Tivoli" canton was built between the "Exposición" to the north, "Ciudad Vieja" to the east, the "La Aurora" park to the south and the "La Paz" and "Pamplona" cantons to the west. The extension of the seventh avenue south was designated as "15 de septiembre" avenue and runs to "Los Arcos" of the Pinula aqueduct.

The government of General José María Reina Barrios made an aggressive investment in infrastructure throughout the country, building the lavish Executive Palace, numerous sumptuous public buildings, and holding the Central American Exposition in 1897, which was designed to showcase the great advances that Guatemala had had during his government. The interoceanic railway -which was an excellent alternative at that time because the Panama Canal did not yet exist- and the construction of a modern port in Iztapa to improve international trade were the main projects of the government, which unfortunately were left unfinished when the Guatemalan economy collapsed due to the drop in the price of coffee, Guatemala's only export crop at the time. Guatemala was plunged into a deep external debt with British banks and it was no longer possible to continue with infrastructure works; President Reyna Barrios paid with his life for what at that time was seen as a waste of the public treasury, since he was assassinated on February 8, 1898.

At the end of the government of Reina Barrios there was already a tram service that ran on rails and were pulled by horses; the service was deficient and the complaints revolved around the carelessness of the carriages, which were dirty and smelly, the lack of education of the employees and the poor organization of the stops.

1902 was a tragic year for the city of Quetzaltenango: it was just recovering from the San Perfecto earthquake in April, when the Santa María volcano erupted on October 24 of that same year. Spanish conquest in 1524 and with its almost perfect cone of 3768 meters high, it was a scenic setting for the Quetzaltec city; but the eruption was even more devastating than the earthquake, since it also caused considerable damage to the surrounding farms and villages and there are accounts that the sand and ash reached the Chiapas region, in Mexico. It is estimated that the catastrophe caused five thousand deaths and thousands of pesos in agricultural and material losses. In gratitude for having saved his life in the eruption, the farmer Felipe Yurrita built the beautiful temple that bears his last name to Nuestra Señora de las Angustias and is located in the current zone 9 from Guatemala City.

"La Aurora" park and airport

"La Aurora" was a green zone with an area of six caballerias and more than fifty blocks in the south of the capital and which belonged to President General Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián. When Barillas handed over power to General José María Reina Barrios in 1892, he took possession of a large part of the farm with the purpose of carrying out his development plan for a recreational area, which was part of his improvement plans for the growth of the capital. Said plans included the development of the La Aurora farm and the construction of a railway station, which would run along the Bulevar "30 de junio". The central axis of these improvements was the Central American Exposition of 1897, which took place in the halls built on the boulevard, and whose success depended on the completion of the interoceanic railway, the main economic project of Reina Barrios and which would have meant a great source of income. income for the country if it had been completed on time. with English banks were considerable.

General Reyna Barrios was assassinated in February 1898 and his improvement plans no longer materialized, and his successor, Manuel Estrada Cabrera, had to worry about paying the English debt. The farm had three entrances: Pamplona, Los Arcos and Hincapié and there was an avenue called "Paseo La Aurora" that crossed the park with several sidewalks that connected in a central square, which was called "Plaza Reyna Barrios".

The airport needs of Guatemala City motivated the construction of La Aurora Airport, whose first activities occurred in 1923, during the government of General José María Orellana; until then, the Campo de Marte was the space that had been used to carry out the first aeronautical experiments in Guatemala. Originally, the La Aurora farm consisted only of a grass runway, which was enough to satisfy the needs of the 1930s.

"June 30" Boulevard

Bulevar «30 June» at the beginning of the century xx.

Palacio de la Reforma, in the Boulevard «30 June». It was built by the government of General José María Reyna Barrios between 1892 and 1898 and later destroyed by the earthquakes of 1917-18.

Bulevar «30 June» in 1910.

Members of the conservative elites of the government of Rafael Carrera and the new elite that emerged with the advent of coffee cultivation during the government of Justo Rufino Barrios moved their residences to the area of "30 de Junio" boulevard; For their part, certain Indian towns were forcibly transferred from Santiago de los Caballeros in Guatemala and were settled in the southeast area of the city: the “San Pedrito” neighborhood, “Ciudad Vieja” and the “Villa de Guadalupe”.

Government of Manuel Estrada Cabrera

On January 24, 1899, the Mexican ambassador and writer Federico Gamboa arrived in Guatemala City, representing the government of General Porfirio Díaz. A few days later he was invited to the executive palace by President Manuel Estrada Cabrera to exchange impressions; Gamboa describes the government palace of that time as a dilapidated and ugly mansion from old colonial times that was not pleasing to the eye, although the interior decoration made it somewhat more pleasant. At the end of the spacious patio, and to the left to the left was an anteroom full of officers and behind a stained-glass partition was the presidential office.

Gamboa toured the city and described it in his newspaper, indicating that the Paseo de La Reforma -or "30 de Junio" Boulevard- was beautiful, but that it had two problems: there was nobody on it and it was completely neglected. Circulating in his carriage along the European-style promenade, he managed to see three or four well-manufactured buildings, the ruined remains of the 1897 Central American Exhibition hall, the monument to General Miguel García Granados, and the Reforma Palace museum. with the monument to Justo Rufino Barrios.

The city also expanded a little to the north, especially on Simeón Cañas avenue, at the end of which the Temple of Minerva was located, and the Relief Map was built in 1905. On the other hand, Estrada Cabrera moved his residence to the "La Palma" farm, located where the "Teodoro Palacios Flores" gym was built in 1955. Towards the end of the government of Mr. Estrada Cabrera, the city's population reached one hundred and twenty-one thousand inhabitants.

Earthquakes of 1917-1918

See also:Images of the earthquake in Commons

Effects of the 1917-18 earthquakes in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Guatemala City in 1915. Recording Guatemalan Blue Book.

During the government of Manuel Estrada Cabrera (1898-1920), important public buildings were built along the boulevard "30 de junio": the "Joaquina" maternity home -named after the president's mother, Joaquina Cabrera- and the military academy, built in 1912 after the original building was demolished after the assassination attempt on the president by cadets in 1908.

It can be affirmed that the beginning of the decline of Estrada Cabrera's presidency began with the earthquakes that began on November 17, 1917 and ruined some towns around Amatitlán. On December 25 and 29 of that same year, and on December 3 and 24 of the following, the tremors were repeated in the republic, but with much greater force, so that they destroyed numerous public and religious buildings, as well as private houses in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala. Among the destroyed buildings, numerous structures stood out that had been built in the governments of José María Reyna Barrios (among them the pavilion of the Central American Exhibition, and the palace on the boulevard June 30) and Estrada Cabrera (Doña Joaquina asylum for ladies); for this reason, much of the physical work of both presidents has been forgotten by later generations.

In the Diario de Centro América, after publishing two daily editions reporting the disasters, they began to criticize the government for its slow and inefficient response to the disaster. In one of the articles in In the opinion of this official newspaper, it was even said that the religious images of some Catholic temples in the city had been saved because, at the time of the first earthquake, "they no longer wanted to continue in a city where excessive luxury, impunity and terror". On the other hand, it was said that there were "excellent" laws for reconstruction, which, however, "are not fulfilled". It was also said that a phenomenon was occurring that always occurred in cases of cataclysms like these: "laws and regulations are issued daily, but what is needed is their correct daily execution, and not so many regulations". it was published on the front page, three months after the earthquakes, that "there is still rubble all over the city". copies of half a sheet, sometimes up to two a day, during the crisis.

In El Guatemalteco, the official government newspaper, a trace of the disaster remained: from the issue corresponding to December 22, publication was interrupted and did not resume until January 21, 1918, but in a much smaller format.

The Treasury commission in charge of the reconstruction of the city, after the earthquake, finally decided to create a Privileged National Bank with a capital of 30 million pesos (which would come from a loan to foreign banks), which sank the national economy. It should be noted that one of the executive members of this commission was Carlos Herrera y Luna, who would later become president of Guatemala.

Military governments of 1923-1944

The Hipódromo del Sur was officially inaugurated in 1923 by President General José María Orellana, and was a place of great popularity in the “La Aurora” national park. The hippodrome track was 1,600 meters long by 30 meters wide and had a capacity for 1,600 spectators; its facilities included stables, stables and covered stands. At that time you could admire the equestrian exercises, jaripeos, and horse races. In 1926, President General Lázaro Chacón ordered the construction of new facilities and remodeling of the racetrack to increase the diversity of events, fairs and amenities, which kept the structure in continuous remodeling and expansion.

In 1931, during the first days of the presidency of General Jorge Ubico (1931-1944), the construction of new facilities at the racetrack was completed, which included the presidential tribune and sentry boxes for field judges. In 1935, the construction of the first bandshell in Guatemala was completed in the vicinity of the hippodrome and an international fair began, for which mechanical games were installed and cultural and social events of all kinds were presented. The fair was held in November, in honor of General Ubico's birthday.

During the rest of the government of General Jorge Ubico, the city expanded to the south, with the construction of the La Aurora International Airport building on Avenida de Hincapié, the exhibition halls of the "November Fair" The extension of the seventh avenue was adorned with the "Tower of the Reformer" and with the transfer of the "Fuente de Carlos V" from the Central Park to the "Plazuela España". Ubico also built palaces: the National Palace, the Police Palace, the Post and Telegraph Palace, the Central Customs, the Congress of the Republic and the Supreme Court of Justice. wood, American style, built that way to resist earthquakes. There were many vacant lots, not only in La Reforma, but also in the "Tivoli", "Santa Clara" and "Pamplona" cantons.

Ubico Castañeda appointed the Municipal Mayor and he concentrated on attending to the modernization of basic services in the central area of the city and the areas to the south, where members of the high-income sectors and the construction of the palaces consumed approximately 35% of the cement production. On the other hand, the peripheral neighborhoods that had been formed or populated after the earthquakes of 1917-18 were neglected; These neighborhoods were "La Parroquia", "Ermita", "Candelaria", "La Reformita", "El Gallito", "Gerona" and "La Palmita", among others. These poor neighborhoods were inhabited by very low-income families who lived in overcrowded conditions and deficient provision of basic services.

Plaza España, one of the many green spaces.

On the other hand, the government of Ubico Castañeda bought the "Finca La Verbena" in the "Llanos de Urbina" in 1935 for the construction of an extension of the General Cemetery in Guatemala City, which was about to collapse. In 1939, the government inaugurated the new cemetery: the "La Verbena Cemetery". The cemetery workers inhabited the surroundings of the town and invited their friends and family to reside in the sector, without paying for the corresponding rights, giving rise to the colony "La Verbena". When government officials realized what was happening, they prohibited materials from entering the farm. This situation changed after the resignation of General Ubico on July 1, 1944, and the October 1944 revolution: taking advantage of the drastic changes that were taking place in the country, the invasions continued.

The Revolution of 1944 and the urban development of the city

The real estate sector in the city is one of the largest in the region.

Satellite view of Guatemala City.

When the Revolution of 1944 occurred, the city had little urban development, which was reflected in a deficient and differentiated coverage of essential services -provision of water, drainage, electricity and street paving- as well as few job opportunities for the population, due to the almost non-existent industrialization; Except for a beer factory, another cement factory, and some textile and soap factories, the main economic activities were agriculture and crafts. Guatemala depended for everything on the importation of both luxury and necessities.

With the revolutionary governments, a new concept of municipal administration began, based on autonomy and the election of corporations by the population of the municipalities, although from the beginning, this situation had repercussions on the urban development of the city, since there were political frictions between the government and the municipal corporations. The first elected mayor of Guatemala City was Mario Méndez Montenegro (1946-1948). During his tenure, the drinking water and drainage network was expanded to some peripheral neighborhoods and the construction of large collectors that collect sewage from the north of the city began, directing it towards the “Las Vacas” river and towards the “La Pedrera” ravine. ». He also built the Colón playground in zone 1 and extended the sixth avenue, after collapsing the hill where the old church of "El Calvario" of the city was located.

The government of Dr. Juan José Arévalo built the "City of Sports" in the area known as "La Barranquilla"; This complex has adequate facilities for playing football and athletics, an Olympic swimming pool, several tennis courts and the "Palacio de los Deportes". Opened in 1951, it is the most modern and complete sports complex in Guatemala; by this time, the city's population had grown to 250,000.

One of the most prominent mayors was the engineer Martín Prado Vélez, who took office in 1949. Of Coban origin, he studied at the University of San Carlos and under his mandate, among other modernist works in the city, were built o Important infrastructure works began: the El Incienso Bridge, the construction of Roosevelt Avenue, the main road axis from east to west of the City, the town hall itself, and numerous road works that meant the expansion of the colonial city, its arrangement in cardinal points and the generation of a peripheral ring with the first cloverleaf in the main city of Central America. One of his main collaborators was his friend, the engineer Raúl Aguilar Batres, who was the head of planning for the municipality in that administration and in subsequent ones.

In 1952, Juan Luis Lizarralde won the elections for mayor, supported by the "Anti-Communist Unification Party" (PUA), the "Comité de Estudiantes Universitarios Anticomunistas" (CEUA), the "Patriotic Union" and the "Nationalist Youth ». This administration had confrontations with the government of Colonel Arbenz, but the government, through public works, intervened in the production of new spaces in the city and, in some cases, in the valorization of the land that was incorporated into the city through the new road axes such as the Inter-American highway that was built from the Roosevelt Hospital..

Belize Bridge

This is one of the most important bridges in Guatemala City, since it constitutes the beginning of the highway to the Atlantic - since 2010 baptized as the "Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán" highway - construction began in 1951, during the government of the Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán as part of his project to build a highway to the Atlantic that would compete with the monopoly that the International Railways of Central America (IRCA) company had until then. The construction was in charge of the German company Krupp, and had a total cost of Q. 1,500,000.00. After the overthrow of Colonel Arbenz in 1954, the counterrevolutionary governments of Carlos Castillo Armas and Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes continued with the construction of the highway to the Atlantic and, therefore, the Belize bridge. The bridge was finally inaugurated on November 18, 1958 in a ceremony that was attended by the general president and engineer Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes together with his wife María Teresa Laparra de Ydigoras; During said ceremony, the plaque placed at the entrance of the bridge was unveiled with the following legend: "Belize Bridge: From the people of Guatemala to their Belizean compatriots".

Works of the counterrevolutionary governments

In 1958, arguing that the municipality of Mixco, to which it belonged due to its geographical location, did not provide it with sufficient resources to meet its needs for public lighting, electricity, drainage and potable water, the colony "La Florida" requested and was authorized to join the municipality of Guatemala City. Although its services were not met to its satisfaction, and in 1964 it was petitioning to be declared an autonomous entity, the colonia has remained part of the city in zone 19 ever since.

In 1967, Mayor Ramiro Ponce Monroy began with the plan to build a viaduct on 24th street in zone 4 in order to alleviate traffic in the area; The cost of the project was estimated at one million two hundred and seventy-five thousand quetzales and it would be finished by the end of 1968. of the Cemetery, in zone 3; It was going to have two vehicular lanes, each seven meters wide, divided by a central flowerbed 1.20 meters wide, two lateral flowerbeds one meter wide, and six bridges: over 7th and 6th avenues, over the Avenida del Ferrocarril, on Avenida Bolívar and on Avenida Elena. Unfortunately, the project could not be carried out because the Municipality faced a serious economic crisis and had to request the Congress of the Republic to issue a decree to declare the construction of the viaduct for collective utility, benefit and public interest. But this failed to achieve an adequate value for the land that had to be expropriated and on July 17, 1968, the municipal council withdrew from the construction of the viaduct. The project It remained on file until January 20, 1970, when the work finally began: the first phase covered from the Palacio de los Deportes, in the Olympic City, to the 6th avenue of zone 4, with a length of 500 meters; finally, on January 14, 1971, the new mayor Manuel Colom Argueta and the engineer Fernando Maselli —project director— informed that the works were going to be finished on February 19 of that year. The work no longer continued until the avenue of the Cemetery because the cost of the expropriations could not be resolved.

Municipal management of Manuel Colom Argueta

"Martín Prado Vélez" or "El Incienso" bridge, built by the municipal management of Manuel Colom Argueta.

Manuel Colom Argueta took office as Mayor of Guatemala City from 1970 to 1974, under disadvantageous conditions, because instead of support from the central government of General Carlos Arana Osorio, he always found obstacles, such as the delay in approval of the "Regulatory Plan for Metropolitan Development", the delay in the management of funds for municipal works, the fact that the central government has been awarded the construction of the "Martín Prado Vélez" bridge ("El Incienso" Bridge) to take credit away from municipal management. Even so, his municipal management promoted works and actions for the benefit of citizens under a comprehensive vision of municipal government and from the perspective of planned urbanization; during his administration, among other things, a deep drainage system, giant collectors, the first phase of the peripheral ring - which connects zones 1, 7, 11 and 12 -, the viaduct on 24th street in zone 1, markets, parks, sports fields, municipal pharmacies, and the Municipal Drinking Water Company (EMPAGUA) was established, in charge of the project to obtain water from the Xayá–Pixcayá aqueduct.

1976 earthquake

On February 4, 1976, at approximately 3:03 in the morning, it was shaken by a strong earthquake that affected the entire country. Zones like zone 3 were completely destroyed, hospitals were destroyed, fuel ran out and many people died. The earthquake measured 7.5 on the Richter scale and caused more damage and more deaths in the periphery than in the center due to the precarious adobe constructions that existed at the time.

The most affected area covered around 30,000 km², with a population of 2.5 million people. Nearly 23,000 people died and 77,000 were seriously injured. Approximately 258,000 houses were destroyed, leaving about 1.2 million people homeless. 40% of the national hospital infrastructure was destroyed, while other health centers also suffered substantial damage. Cracks appeared in the ground in many parts of the country, some measuring up to a meter wide; also the height of some hills cracked and then the hills crumbled, burying entire towns and highways.

As the bodies were recovered the scale of the disaster was revealed; the authorities organized the excavation of collective graves, the number of dead was so great that they had no alternative. Many bridges, pylons, electricity and telephone poles, and roads collapsed or were destroyed. The rails of the railway lines twisted like snakes. Several departments of the country were affected by the earthquake: Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Petén, Guatemala, Izabal and Sacatepéquez, as well as many towns and cities; the port facilities of Puerto Barrios, head of the department of Izabal, were destroyed. Guatemala City and its surroundings suffered the worst damage, despite being far from the epicenter of the tremor; the periphery of the city was more destroyed than the center because the houses were made of adobe, the National Palace and the neighboring Presidential House did not suffer major damage. The Catholic temples of the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Recoleccion Church and the Hermitage of Carmen on the hill of the same name suffered considerable damage. Guatemala City was in chaos, thousands of people were buried in the rubble, many dead or seriously injured. In San Juan Sacatepéquez, the municipality partially collapsed.

Civil war in the city

Burning of the Spanish embassy

On Thursday, January 31, 1980, the case of Guatemala drew worldwide attention with the burning of the Spanish Embassy, in which 37 people were burned alive, including several Spanish citizens and eminent Guatemalan jurists. The mobilization in the form of a protest by a group of indigenous people, in order to call the world's attention to the massacres committed in 1980 by the Guatemalan Army in El Quiché during the government of General Fernando Romeo Lucas García, was the prelude to the case of the burning of the Embassy of Spain. At the end of the events, thirty-seven people, including important Guatemalan officials who were in the embassy at the time the indigenous people took over, burned to death inside the facilities after the police tried to take the embassy by force; as a result of the event, Spain broke diplomatic relations with Guatemala.

Bombing of September 5, 1980

On September 5, 1980, a terrorist attack by the Guerrilla Army of the Poor took place in front of the National Palace with the intention of dissuading the Guatemalan people from attending a demonstration in support of the government of General Lucas García that was planned for the Sunday September 7 in Central Park. In that attack, six adults and one child died due to the explosion of two bombs located in a vehicle; there were an undetermined number of injuries and considerable material damage not only to the works of art in the National Palace, but also to many of the surrounding buildings, especially in the Lucky Building, which is in front of the National Palace on 6th. avenue. Among the dead were: Domingo Sánchez, pilot for the Minister of Agriculture; Joaquín Díaz y Díaz, car cleaner; and Amilcar de Paz, security agent. The images on television showed parts of the bodies distributed around the area of the incident, while the newspapers showed on their front pages the image of the destroyed car bomb and the surroundings of the palace.

The attack was carried out in two parts: first, at night, the guerrillas deposited a small explosive charge in the sewer located in Central Park, at the corner of 6th. street and 6a. zone 1 avenue, in front of the corner where the presidential office was located inside the National Palace. In the morning, the guerrillas parked a vehicle on that hole, which had a much larger load inside; at 9:35 a.m. m. They detonated the small explosive charge, which in turn blew up the one inside the vehicle, leaving the bodies of several civilians scattered after being mutilated, whose human remains were thrown in a radius greater than 70 meters. Five minutes after the explosion occurred, seven vehicles were set on fire.

That same day, and also to try to prevent the development of the demonstration, the guerrillas attacked the Galgos bus terminal, and a Fortaleza company bus, killing a mechanic.

Dynamiter attacks against private property

The attack by guerrilla groups against financial, commercial, and agricultural objectives increased during the government of General Fernando Romeo Lucas García, since the guerrilla groups considered these institutions as "bourgeois reactionaries" and "exploiting millionaires" who collaborated with the "genocidal government". The following is a non-exhaustive list of the attacks in Guatemala City that were recorded in the report of the United Nations Commission for Historical Clarification:

Land invasions

Guatemala City in 2022.

In 1979, the Guatemalan currency, the quetzal, was quoted at one US dollar; but by the end of 1985 the exchange rate was Q1.47 per dollar, in 1987 it was Q2.53 and by 1990 it had fallen to Q5.57 per dollar; this phenomenon had an unequal impact on society: on the one hand, for the producers of articles, each change in the exchange rate is quickly transferred to the consumer, through the revaluation of prices; on the other, the vast working majority of the population does not have a similar compensation mechanism and the devaluation results in a constant erosion of their income. These changes were based on the neoliberal economic approach that indicates that by prioritizing the satisfaction of needs By rationing the use of their scarce resources, a freedom of choice for consumers is generated; however, the result was the limitation of their purchasing power.

As a result, in 1982 ten different invasions were carried out, but these were quickly dismantled by the military governments of the time. In 1984, five were carried out, of which only one prospered: El Mezquital, which came to shelter up to forty-five thousand inhabitants.

With the start of the government of attorney Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo in 1986, land invasions began as had never been seen before in the history of the city; with invasions of Villa Lobos I and II in Villa Nueva -which by then it was already part of the metropolitan zone of Guatemala - in 1988, land in Campos del Roosevelt in the vicinity of the hospital of the same name in zone 11 in 1989 and vacant land in the Bethania neighborhood, zone 7, Santa Elisa in zone 18, Ciudad Peronia and land in the zone 3 sanitary landfill, although the latter was violently evicted by the police riot squad in 1990.

Popular protests of 1985 and the emergence of the gangs

During the government of Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores, the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) was born, led by Nineth Montenegro, and the Coordinadora de Estudiantes de Educación Media -CEEM-, formed by students from the National Central Institute for Men, also gained considerable strength., the Normal Central Institute for Misses Belén and the Rafael Aqueche Institute - which organized massive protests in September 1985 against the rise in prices of public transport. At least ten people died in Guatemala City in the largest wave of urban riots since protests against the government of Fernando Romeo Lucas García in August 1978. The riots began with popular demonstrations against the rise in the price of public transport but later they were generalized against the economic situation that the country was experiencing at that time. Burning of urban buses, taking over streets and massive demonstrations that resulted in the destruction of public infrastructure occurred almost every day.

The government responded with 3,000 Army soldiers, supported by light armor, and with forces from the anti-riot squad of the National Police, who were deployed in central and peripheral areas of the city. Also, on the night of September 3, the University of San Carlos de Guatemala was occupied by the military and it was said that an underground firing range and subversive propaganda were found inside.

Several hundred people were arrested and General Mejía Víctores addressed the country through a radio-televised address in which he announced measures to put a stop to the prevailing social unrest. General Mejía announced the closure of educational centers until further notice and the freezing of prices of consumer items; in the end, as part of the solution to the process, a student voucher was granted so that primary and secondary education students could travel free on urban buses, and students were promoted by decree.

During these riots, organized groups of gang members from marginal areas of Guatemala City made their appearance, who would later present themselves as the maras and who were initially influenced by the breakdancing style of dance that young people deported from the States brought to Guatemala. Joined.

Construction of overpasses

Step to uneven located in zone 13 of the city.

The growth that the city has had has occurred in all directions, with the south west and south east being predominant. Its growth has been so great that it has taken over several towns that in the beginning were far away or belonged to another municipality and which, due to the current exceeding of its jurisdictional limits, has been called the Metropolitan Area of Guatemala. Some of these are Mixco, Santa Catarina Pinula, Villa Nueva and San José Pinula. There has also been the phenomenon of Dormitory Cities, such as Fraijanes, Villa Canales and Amatitlán. In these cities and towns, the urban developments are many and show the great population growth directly from the city, since it still suffers from a shortage of housing that is enough for the entire population, which encourages the appearance of shantytowns in high-risk areas., such as slopes and ravines, which are characteristic of the region.

This disorderly growth of the city led to the appearance of traffic congestion; to alleviate this situation, overpasses began to be built. The first of these was the Tecún Umán overpass between zones 8, 9 and 13. The work consists of four pre-stressed concrete bridges, as well as a system of interchanges at the level of roads without restriction of heights, for the transit of Vehicles on Bulevar Liberación, in the east-west direction, Montúfar street, La Castellana avenue and 7th avenue from zone 13 towards zone 1 of the city. The work was carried out in three phases, beginning in October 1991 and ending on August 31, 1993.

Tropical Storm Agatha

In 2010 the city was damaged by Tropical Storm Agatha, due to the large amount of rain in a short period. The drainage system suffered a collapse causing a large sinkhole in one of the routes in the northern area.

Pacaya volcano eruption of 2010

Four volcanoes are visible from the city, two of them active. The closest and most active is the Pacaya volcano, which sometimes expels a considerable amount of ash; the others are: Volcán de Fuego, Volcán Acatenango and Volcán de Agua. On the night of May 27, 2010, the Pacaya volcano erupted; The ash column reached up to 1,500 meters high, affecting Guatemala City and 3 other departments of the Republic. It caused the closure of the La Aurora International Airport, as said eruption produced a rain of volcanic sand throughout Guatemala City, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez; the air operation could be resumed up to five days later. CONRED -National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction- declared a red alert for the communities near the volcano, and recommended the evacuation of some of them.

The Pacaya Volcano is the closest active volcano to the city.

The eruption of the volcano caused numerous injuries and two deaths, including that of reporter Aníbal Archila, from the Guatemalan news program "Noti-7", who was one of the first to cover the event. President Álvaro Colom decreed a State of Public Calamity, the Ministry of Education suspended classes in the departments of Guatemala, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez, and the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala met on Tuesday, June 1, in an extraordinary session to ratify the State of Public Calamity.

Assassination of Facundo Cabral

The Argentine singer Facundo Cabral performed in Guatemala City on Tuesday, July 5, 2011, at the Expocenter of the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel. On Thursday, July 7, he performed in what would be his last concert, at the Roma Theater in the city of Quetzaltenango, which closed performing the song I'm not from here, nor am I from there.

He was murdered on July 9, 2011 at around 5:20 a.m. m., in Guatemala City, victim of an attack apparently directed at businessman Henry Fariña, who was taking the singer-songwriter and his representative to La Aurora International Airport from the hotel where he was staying, to continue in Nicaragua with his tour of presentations. The attack was perpetrated by several hit men who were traveling in three vehicles and armed with assault rifles on Boulevard Liberación in said city, leaving only the businessman injured and the singer-songwriter dead.

In July 2012 Nicaraguan prosecutors said Cabral was killed in a dispute between Alejandro Jiménez González and Henry Fariñas, both members of the "Los Charros" allied with La Familia Michoacana and involved in money laundering in amounts of more than one billion dollars.

Demographics

Guatemala City is the most populous urban agglomeration in Central America. During the 2010s its population has doubled, since according to the 2002 census there were 2.3 million inhabitants in the city, while the 2013 census reported 4.3 million inhabitants. The National Institute of Statistics estimates that the city Guatemala is home to almost a quarter of the total Guatemalan population and almost half of the country's urban population, specifically forty-nine percent.

Most of the economically active population is concentrated in the industrial zone along Avenida Petapa, the residential area of Avenida las Américas, Avenida la Reforma, Boulevard Liberación, Zona Viva, Zona Pradera and the commercial corridor of seventh avenue in zone 9. There is also a high population density in the commercial area of Peri-Roosevelt where there are shopping centers that supply that area of the city. All this commercial activity means that the metropolitan district of the city is the municipality with the lowest poverty rate in the country with only 6.3 percent and that the literacy rate is more than ninety-five percent -one of the rates highest in the country. Finally, Guatemala City has a higher percentage of adults and the elderly than the rest of the country, with thirty-nine percent over 30 years of age.

Ethnographically, the Ladino population makes up a large majority of the population, exceeding 85 percent of the inhabitants. The population of mestizo descent predominates in this group, although historically Guatemala City was the settlement of some European migrant communities (especially German), Asian, Semitic and Caribbean, which have significantly influenced the mixing of the capital. Between 5 and 10 percent of the population is indigenous (mainly k'aqchiquel), their number has increased due to migration from the interior to the country's capital. Less than 5 percent is made up of wealthy families of ancestral Spanish descent, a figure that exceeded 10 percent in past times, and during the Colonial Era they were a significant segment, their decline since independence is due to relatively lower fertility. Around 60,000 inhabitants are naturalized (8 out of 10 foreigners), they mainly come from neighboring countries such as Mexico or El Salvador, either to start a family or establish lives in the city, others come from different countries for business purposes.

Religion

The population of Guatemala City is predominantly Christian, due to the strong roots of the Catholic religion since colonial times and the rise of Protestant denominations from the second half of the century xx. Among the major religious symbols is the Metropolitan Cathedral —built in the xix century, the Catholic celebrations of Holy Week, the local fair held on August 15 in honor of Assumption Day—and the Basilica of the Immaculate Church of San Francisco (Guatemala City).

Other recent religious symbols is Casa de Dios, a Protestant megachurch built in the early xxi century on the outskirts of the city.

Protestantism has grown considerably in recent decades, encompassing 30% of the inhabitants, although historically since the 1870s the city has had a Protestant population -which initially was less than 1% and was only the Central Presbyterian Church -. The Protestant rise has been facilitated by the weakening of the Catholic religion in the country, which has been a long process that has been influenced mainly by local political issues: the Bourbon reforms of the xviii that began the weakening of the power of the church over the Spanish crown, the regular orders of the Catholic Church had been expelled from Central American territory in 1829 by the liberals commanded by Francisco Morazán, but they returned in 1840 after the victory of General Rafael Carrera; the secular clergy, for their part, were not expelled, but their obligatory tithing was withdrawn, which weakened them considerably. During the Carrera regime the regular orders were strengthened and thanks to the strong relationship with the conservative government, they managed to take control of the country's education through the Concordat of 1854 and that the possessions that they had s had been confiscated in 1829. The secular clergy, for their part, benefited from their relations with the Aycinena Clan and from the imposition of compulsory tithing.

Guatemala City Cathedral view from Central Park

In 1872, after the overthrow of the Conservatives and the seizure of power by the Liberals led by Miguel García Granados and Justo Rufino Barrios, the regular orders were again expelled and the obligatory tithe was eliminated, considerably weakening the secular clergy. The government adopted an agnostic and positivist stance and promulgated secular laws for events that were previously exclusively controlled by the religious - for example, marriages, divorces and birth and death certificates. The Liberal government also allowed the entry of the Presbyterian Church, which became the first legal Protestant religion in the country, since English Protestant citizens who negotiated with the Conservative government had previously been in Guatemala. The Liberal government included in the constitution of 1879 the prohibition that religious congregations possess property and established secular education as the only compulsory one.

This situation continued even after the overthrow of General Jorge Ubico, the country's last liberal dictator, since the 1945 constitution maintains the prohibitions that the liberals included in 1879. Archbishop Mariano Rossell y Arellano understanding the difficult position of the church, allied with the anti-communist groups that finally overthrew the revolutionary regime of Colonel Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán in 1954 and got the counterrevolutionary government to include in the 1956 constitution that churches could own property and that religious education be supported by the state. These changes were decisive for religion in the country, because although they allowed the regular orders to return to Guatemala and recover some of their goods, they also allowed the rise of all other religions, mainly evangelical Protestants.

One of the largest Protestant churches is the Casa de Dios church with more than twelve thousand members; Other churches, such as El Shaddai, Ebenezer Ministries, Elim Central, have emerged and gone from strength to strength since the ban on churches owning property and providing education was lifted in 1956.

Other small Christian groups include Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox, and Jehovah's Witnesses. In addition, due to the arrival of foreigners of Israeli and Asian origin, there are communities of Jews and Buddhists.

Guatemala City ranks as one of the most secular regions of Guatemala, where more than 15 percent in surveys say they have no religious affiliation or say they are atheist or agnostic.

Transport system

I enter the City by the South Alterna Highway.

Transportation in Guatemala City includes highways, railways, urban and interurban transportation, a taxi system, bike lanes, and the country's largest airport, among others. Guatemala City is the epicenter of the Metropolitan Area of Guatemala, the largest and busiest urban agglomeration in the country. Due to its high demand for road space, traffic jams are frequent at the entrance to said area, since according to estimates by the Superintendency of Guatemalan Tax Administration for the year 2018, 1,718,713 private vehicles circulated within the city.

Road network

Road network in the city center.

The Trébol, one of the most important intersections in the city, connecting areas 3, 8, 11 and 12.

Guatemala City has an extensive road network of highways and highways that connect it to the rest of the country's cities, such as the Palín-Escuintla Highway to the south and the VAS Highway (Vía Alterna del Sur), one of the highways that connect several cities in the Metropolitan Area of Guatemala, the "Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán" highway to the Atlantic and the north, the road to "El Salvador" (Pan-American Highway to the east of the country) and the highways that derive from the Highway Interamericana and that connect it to the west of the country, specifically to the departments of Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, Huehuetenango and Quiché. All highways in the country have Guatemala City as their point of origin.

Within the City there are extremely important roads due to their connectivity within the metropolis, among the most important streets and avenues are:

• Bulevar Liberation.
• Bolivar Avenue.
• Avenida Reforma.
• Avenida Las Américas
• Pan American Road.
• Calzada Raúl Aguilar Batres.
• Peripheral ring.
• Petapa Avenue.
• Calzada Atanasio Tzul.
• Carretera Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.
• Bulevar View Beautiful.
• Calzada Roosevelt.
• Calzada San Juan.
• Calzada La Paz.

Air transportation

Air and land traffic in the city.

La Aurora International Airport located in zone 13 of the city, has a network of daily international flights to the main cities of America and Europe through 32 airlines, it also has daily domestic flights to the Mundo Maya International Airport, located in the department of Petén, to the Quetzaltenango International Airport and the Puerto Barrios Airport. It is one of the largest and most modern in the Central American region. Among the airlines based at La Aurora International Airport, the following stand out: Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos, Avianca, DHL de Guatemala, ARM Aviación, RACSA, among others. The airport is located at an altitude of 1509 ms. no. m., and has an asphalt runway with a length of 2990 m and a width of 60 m. The runway and the taxiway were fully rehabilitated in March 2010. It is administered by the Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, entity of the state of Guatemala. The air terminal was remodeled in 2005 by the government of Oscar Berger Perdomo; the facilities were expanded to meet the increase in the flow of passengers and air cargo. It currently has twenty-two boarding gates, in addition the position -22 to 25- are remote. The airport terminal has entertainment rooms, restaurants, bars and has free Wi-Fi service.

Urban transportation

Guatemala Transmeter Lines.
Click to see interactive map.

The transportation service consists mainly of the urban bus service, there are 336 routes and they charge a fee of Q.2 (approximately 26 cents), however it is worth noting the importance of the mass transportation system (BRT) called Transmetro that has 7 lines, of which 2 are BRT and 5 are mixed transit, the first BRT route leaves from the Villa Nueva Zone 12 Central to the civic center of the capital (south axis), and the second leaves the civic center towards zone 13 of the city (central axis). A bus system was also implemented throughout the capital city, called Transurbano, in which the urban buses were replaced by buses in which you no longer pay in cash, but instead use a card in which the ticket is discounted. in order to reduce the frequency of assaults on urban pilots. TransMIO units have also been circulating in the south of the city since 2017 and two new mass transportation systems are currently being planned, the MetroRiel light rail system and the AeroMetro air transportation system.

Transometer

Transmeter biarticulate BRTs circulating in exclusive lane.

The city has the urban BRT mass transportation system called Transmetro, which has been in operation since 2007 and currently covers 7 lines, 2 of which stand out for their length and for having exclusive lanes, and 5 for mixed traffic where the units of the Transmetro have priority on the road. The system has approximately 400 bi-articulated, articulated and non-articulated units that stand out for their high level of security and economy, since within the units and in each station there are elements of the Municipal Police of Guatemala. The transmetro has express routes that do not stop at any station until they reach their destination and continuous stop lines at all stations. The cost of the trip is Q1.00 (US$0.13), in all directions and without time limit until the exit at a station. As of May 15, 2021, payment with the Vecino card is implemented, a smart card that contains a QR on the back with a cost of Q20.00 (US$2.60), called the Citizen Card, Integrated City, this card can currently be purchased in a kiosk on 18th street, El Ferrocarril stop.

Transurban

Transurbano is one of the urban transportation systems in Guatemala City and its metropolitan area, currently operated by the Integrated Guatemalan Bus System and has a total of 455 buses covering 41 lines. The units are equipped with two informative LCD screens, GPS and two security cameras and have a capacity of 80 passengers. The entrance is through a turnstile where only one person at a time can enter and the service is paid through an RFID-type smart card of the Guatemalan Integrated Bus System (SIGA) in the validators found in each unit of the bus. Transurban.

Other urban transport systems

Within the metropolitan area there are also urban transport units from other locations that enter and circulate within Guatemala City, among these systems the "Express Routes" from the city of Mixco stand out, which are units similar to the system Transurban transport, these units have different lines that connect both cities. The TransMIO urban transport system from the city of Villa Nueva has approximately 60 units with a capacity for 95 passengers and different lines that connect both cities, the TransMIO units are International brand buses, all units are monitored by real-time video surveillance system in order to provide more security to passengers. There are units with special ramps for people with disabilities and buses with special chargers for bicycles. The new urban transport system that enters the city from Santa Catarina Pinula "TransPinula" has units with capacity for 65 passengers, with EURO 5 technology which reduces carbon emissions and have security cameras inside to protect the passengers. These systems stand out for their safety and efficient mobility.

Urban Transport Systems in Guatemala City

Among the transport systems of the metropolitan area are: Transmetro, Transurbano, Rutas Express, TransMIO and TransPinula.

Light Rail

The MetroRiel is an urban light rail system currently under construction that will serve Guatemala City and Villa Nueva. An initial cost of $700 million dollars is estimated for the first 20 km long line that will connect Centra Norte in the northern area of the city with Centra Sur in zone 12 of Villa Nueva in a period of 40 minutes. This mass transport system will use 85% of the existing railways in the city, currently the country's railway infrastructure administrator -Ferrovías- is working on improving the rail transport lines in the city, and the Municipality of Guatemala is building steps to unevenness so as not to obstruct the passage of the subway. It is estimated that the system will have a total of 35 wagons and 20 stations. Likewise, a second underground metro line that connects Mixco with Zone 15 of the city is in the evaluation process.

Taxis

The private taxi service within the city complements the urban transport system, the units called “Amarillo Express” stand out for their fleet of modern BYD F3 vehicles. The system has a call center, GPS in all units, records of routes and payment by POS with credit or debit card. Rates vary depending on traffic and distance, the approximate cost per kilometer is Q4.80.

Bike lanes

Cyclovia Las Américas y Ciclovía Reforma.

The city has a total of 30 kilometers of Ciclovías, with this means of transport, Guatemala City joins the cities that promote the use of bicycles as an alternative means of transport to reduce vehicular traffic and pollution by environment. With the purpose of creating spaces to increase the use of bicycles, the Municipality of Guatemala is working on expanding these routes up to 200 kilometers for the benefit of citizens. In 2010, the construction of the first bicycle route in the city began., said route leads from the Raúl Aguilar Batres road to the University City of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala in zone 12, after this route the bicycle path of the Metropolitan University Center was inaugurated in zone 11, only those two routes reported around of 65,700 monthly trips in 2016. There are currently different bike path routes in different areas of the city, among the most important are:

• Ciclovía El Carmen-USAC.
• Ciclovia CUM.
• Ciclovia Reforma.
• Cycleway The Americas.
• Ciclovia Barrial.
• Ciclovía Vista Hermosa.
• Ciclovía Petapa.

Heritage

Historic Center

Historic Centre of Guatemala City

Historic Center of Guatemala City.

The historic center of Guatemala City is the area occupied by the original settlement of Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción between 1776 and 1892, before the expansion of the city began towards the four cardinal points, especially towards the South. The historic center corresponds to the limits of the original layout of the city (today part of zone 1). The following historical buildings are located there: National Palace of Culture, Guatemala City Cathedral, Trade Portal, North Hippodrome and Relief Map, Post Office Building and Arch, Police Palace, Railway Museum, National Theater, Municipality of Guatemala, Parque Jocotenango (formerly called Parque Morazán), as well as areas such as the Barrio de la Candelaria and the Civic Center. It was declared "Cultural Heritage in the Guatemalan Nation", according to the agreement of the Ministry of Culture and Sports (MCD) 328-98 on August 13, 1998.

Guatemala City originally encompassed only the historic center and was the hub of all political and in many ways also some economic activities not only in Guatemala, but in all of Central America. Something characteristic is that almost all of its buildings are dressed in architectural styles from the late xix century. The facades and interiors to this day show art deco, baroque, neoclassical, eclectic and art nouveau among others.

Zones and infrastructure

Map of the city divided into their respective areas.

The city is divided into 25 zones (omitting zones 20, 22 and 23 that are part of other municipalities), which makes it very easy to find directions thanks to the urban plan designed by engineer Raúl Aguilar Batres. Guatemala has a square structure that expands in all directions, which is an important characteristic of turn-of-the-century neoclassical urbanism. The city has many wide and decorated avenues and boulevards; such as "Avenida La Reforma", "Vista Hermosa", "Los Próceres", and "Avenida de Las Américas" among others. Its old layout and its location (a valley surrounded by deep ravines) means that the main access roads are few, which causes severe traffic congestion, as well as the development of other areas previously considered marginal, such as the Atlantic Route. "Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán" between zones 17 and 18, an area that has shown great commercial power. The city also has a wide variety of restaurants, shopping malls, squares, hotels, and shops, close to three hundred galleries and museums (including recognized collections of pre-Columbian art); Likewise, there are thirteen universities: twelve private and one national, which has several study centers in different areas of the city.

Industrial Zone

Industries within Guatemala City.

Industry is mostly concentrated in zone 12, to the south of the city, making this zone the most industrially active. This sector covers the entire Avenida Petapa and Calzada Atanasio Tzul and extends to the industrial area of Villa Nueva and Amatitlán. Modern urban projects placed the polluting factories in the vicinity of the highways to the Pacific and the Atlantic and what will be the great project of the metropolitan ring. Large commercial areas were built in different parts of the capital, among which the urban complex of the commercial park "Las Majadas" stands out, which groups the largest commercial area in the country since it contains fifteen shopping centers. Another type of industry is also located in parts of zones 2 and 7 of the city, located at strategic points due to their proximity to the Peripheral Ring.

Hotel Zones

Guatemala City is the point of entry for most visitors entering by air. It is the most modern and cosmopolitan in the Central American region. Within the city there are different hotel zones, among the largest are.

Zone 10

Area 10

Area 10.

Zona Viva, officially called Zona 10, is the name used to refer to an exclusive zone of Guatemala City, which extends from the east of Avenida Reforma to the north area of Bulevar Los Próceres. It is considered a district with a high economic level and has a high density of bars, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs. In addition, a large number of shopping centers and office buildings make this area a bustling business center of Guatemala City, competing with Cuatro Grados Norte in Zone 4. Multiple well-known hotel chains are located within this zone.. In the last few decades, dozens of new high-rise buildings have sprung up. However, this district is still a fairly green area with many green parks.

This area is located to the south of the city, separated from zone 9 by Reforma Avenue, it is characterized for being the most important business and commercial area of Guatemala City, this area is home to government buildings, embassies and houses study, in addition to offering the largest number of hotels, restaurants, bars and shopping centers in the city. Zone 10 is also a pioneer in culture, since within it are several of the best museums in Guatemala. One of the biggest attractions for foreign and national visitors is the Zona Viva, a district within the zone characterized by being active 24 hours a day. Rates in this area range from 30 to 300 dollars per night, due to its location and good nightlife it is one of the hotel areas with the highest demand in the city.

Zone 4

Area 4

Area 4.

Zone 4 of the city, previously named Cantón Exposición, was created by means of a decree during the government of President Manuel Lisandro Barillas, with the purpose of remembering the triumph achieved at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889. The design of zone 4 is different from the rest of the areas of the city since its streets and avenues are not distributed in the traditional grid, but are located diagonally and its blocks are of different sizes. The design of this area was drawn up during the Government of José María Reina Barrios, who boosted the country's economy, promoting urban population growth.

Street view of Zone 4 of the city.

The streets of this area are located at 45 degrees, inspired by the work of the French urban planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann, and his remodeling of the layout of Paris, from the beginning the blocks were distributed with 4 lots each oriented to the 4 cardinal points, a main road divided this area (currently 7th avenue). The layout and construction of this area was the responsibility of the General Director of the Army Corps of Engineers, Claudio Urrutia, and initially this area had only 40 houses.

Located south of the Historic Center of Guatemala City, it is known for being a pleasant area with amazing things to do. It is characterized by its wide spaces for recreation, green areas, pedestrian areas, restaurants, bars and pet-friendly areas. Culturally, it stands out for its art exhibitions and its different artistic activities that take place in the Plaza de la República. This dynamic spot is known for its similarities to Brooklyn neighborhoods like Vinegar Hill and Williamsburg, thanks in part to the art and street views offered by colorful spots within the area like the Four Degrees North cultural district. Due to its accessibility, nightlife attractions and security, it is one of the hotel areas with the most demand after zone 10.

Zone 13

The La Aurora International Airport is located within this area, so the hotel demand is quite high, in this district there are multiple restaurants, bars and different attractions such as the Children's Museum, the La Aurora Zoo and the Esquilandia amusement park. Among other things to do and places to visit, the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology of Guatemala also stands out, with 20,000 archaeological artifacts and nearly 50,000 ethnological pieces. Among the advantages of zone 13 is its proximity to the airport and its transport connections with the rest of the city, additionally the hotel offer is varied for all types of visitors.

Residential Areas

There are various residential areas in the city although due to population growth and economic development many areas are now mixed sharing residences, businesses and in some cases industries. Within the largest residential areas of the city are the following.

Zone 14

Area 14

Area 14 stands out for its high concentration of high-rise buildings.

Zone 14, is one of the 25 zones into which Guatemala City is divided, according to the agreement established during the government of the politician Jacobo Árbenz in 1952, this zone stands out for being an exclusive residential zone and for its great concentration of high-rise buildings. The system of zones that currently exists was created by the engineer Raúl Aguilar Batres, who was the head of planning for the municipality in that administration and in subsequent ones. Zone 14 It is located at a distance of 9 kilometers from the Plaza of the Constitution in the Department of Guatemala, Guatemala.

The limits of this zone are defined from the intersection of “Tecún Umán” boulevard and “Las Americas” avenue towards the Obelisk, then south to the Elgin neighborhood and join “Hincapié” avenue until the "Shangrilá" bridge and crossing the Pinula river to 20th street and the Pinula Aqueduct to the point of origin. "Las Américas" avenue, which is a continuation of Reforma avenue, was drawn up at the end of the century XIX and its name is due to the formation of the Organization of American States on April 30, 1948. Currently it is one of the avenues of the city with the largest number of monuments and squares. Within the attractions of zone 14 are the following monuments and squares:

• Monument to the so-called liberator of America, Simon Bolivar.
• Monument to Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón.
• Monument to José Cecilio del Valle.
• Monument to Benito Juárez.
• Monument to Christopher Columbus.
• Berlin Square.
• Plaza Ecuador.
• Plaza Uruguay.
• Plaza Peru.
• Plaza República Dominicana.
• Plaza Nicaragua.
• Plaza Argentina.
• Plaza Chile.
• Plaza Colombia.
• Plaza Cuba.
• Plaza Canada.
• Central Square of the Americas represented by Christopher Columbus.
• Square to John Paul II.

Zone 14 is visited by an average of 15,000 people every Sunday for the activities carried out by the Municipality of Guatemala, said activity called Pasos y Pedales has been carried out since 2001 where Las Américas avenue becomes a linear park where visitors can move freely through the area, jogging, biking or with pets and friends. Vehicular passage is restricted in this area for greater pedestrian safety. Guatemala City promotes participation in different recreational, sports, and cultural activities. Pasos y pedales las Américas operates every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., during which time activities that include cycling, walks, and concerts are regulated. by agents of the Municipal Traffic Police, Municipal Police and municipal personnel who supervise and establish order among all people. Other activities such as chess games, dance classes and Tai Chi are also held.

Zones 15 and 16

Areas 15 and 16

Zone 15 and Zone 16 are characterized by being surrounded by natural forests.

These areas are characterized by their high economic level, although they are mixed-use areas, they contain a high number of residential condominiums and luxury apartment buildings, in Zone 15 the residential areas adjacent to Vista Hermosa boulevard stand out, and in zone 16 the well-known Due to its architecture, Ciudad Cayalá, in both areas the topography of the place stands out for being mountainous and wooded areas, providing a cool climate due to its high altitude of 1,600 meters above sea level. Both areas have many things to do, as they have different shopping centers, bars, restaurants, art exhibitions, baseball fields, bowling alleys, and several parks with trails and natural forests.

Zone 15 stands out for being an urban area with numerous places of interest, for its proximity to other main areas of the city and for its easy access via Vista Hermosa boulevard, it is a frequently visited area. Among the most important attractions, the following stand out.

Rotary restaurant located at the last level of Hotel Vista Quince.

• Giratorio Restaurant in Hotel Vista Quince
• Jungla Urbana Ecological Park
• Canchas de Softbol Carlos Cano
• Campos de Baseball Javier
• Metrobowl bowling salon
• National Tennis Federation of Guatemala
• Federation of Swimming Area 15
• Tennis German Club
• American Sports Club
• Shopping centers, bars and squares.

Cayala City

Ciudad Cayalá is a planned city, noted for being a Guatemalan tourist destination within Guatemala City, frequently visited by nationals and foreigners, for its architecture and lifestyle surrounded by nature. This city is recognized for its European-style architecture and has various types of housing, parks, recreational areas, shopping malls, office buildings, and medical clinics. The city was planned and built specifically to satisfy the tastes and needs of its residents and visitors, as this town combines all the comforts and convenience of modern life with a natural environment. Its location within Guatemala City and its growing urbanization contribute to the internal development of this town.

Ciudad Cayalá is located in zone 16 of Guatemala City, it has a great variety of restaurants, shops, galleries, museums, cinemas, hotels, corporate offices, health services and private residential areas. Access to the city is through Rafael Landivar Boulevard.

The giant of Cajalá City.

The giant of Cayalá is a sculpture 18 m long and 3 m high, carved from 25 cubic meters of beige marble, made by sculptor Walter Peter Brenner. It represents a man who is coming out of the earth and holding a bronze key in his right hand. It is the largest carved sculpture in Guatemala. It was inaugurated on May 31, 2014. The giant of Cayalá is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Guatemala. It has become the setting for the emblematic photograph of the visit to Ciudad Cayalá. This sculpture is an allegory of the search for happiness. It is based on a story written by the sculptor himself, which takes place in Cayalá. It narrates how a girl saves a book and a scroll and, after many years, her grandchildren figure out how to wake up the giant, who emerges from the earth to deliver the key to happiness. This event takes place after the children have practiced the virtues of justice, temperance, fortitude and tolerance. "enchanted rock", a crystallized volcanic basalt. The complete monument has a dimension of 3 m in diameter and 1.5 m high. It has water with lively colored fish around it. The fountain and the giant are located opposite each other. The realization of the sculpture took 3 years and two months and for it 75 tons of Guatemalan marble were used.

Buildings

Buildings in Guatemala City

Areas 4, 10, 14 and 15 are those with the highest density of buildings.

Guatemala City is the city with the most buildings in the country, since there are more than 1000 buildings within its jurisdiction, however, due to the regulations established by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics of Guatemala, construction is not allowed of more than 96 meters high due to air traffic and the location of La Aurora International Airport within the city, for this reason currently within Guatemala City there is only one Skyscraper and the rest are high-rise buildings between the that highlight buildings with luxury apartments. The last third of the xx century saw a boom in the construction of multi-level buildings throughout the city. The following is a list of the 20 tallest buildings in the city:

The 20 highest buildings in Guatemala City

	Building	Image	Use	Height	No.	Opening	Ref
1	Premiere Club		Residencial	101.6 m	31	1999
2	Echo (Torre sur)		Residencial	96 m	23	2020
3	Atrium		Residencial	93.45 m	15	2008
4	Echo (North Tower)		Residencial	89 m	21	2020
5	204		Residencial	84 m	18	2014
6	Area Prairie (4 towers)		Offices	84 m	19	2008
7	Tiffany Novena (2 Torres)	Archive:Torres Tiffany Novena - Guatemala.jpg	Board	82.5 m	25	2020
8	Dalí		Residencial	81.08 m	22	2009
9	Premiere Tintoretto		Residencial	80 m	26	2008
10	Airali		Board	80 m	25	2022
11	Interamericas World Financial Center (2 towers)		Offices	80 m	19	2012
12	Lantana		Residencial	79 m	22	2018
13	Premiere Murakami		Residencial	77.39 m	21	2014
14	360° Tower		Residencial	76 m	20	2015
15	The Grand Tikal Futura Hotel		Board	75 m	20	1997
16	Botticelli (2 towers)		Residencial	75 m	20	2008
17	Tiffany 5.a Avenida (2 Torres)		Residencial	74 m	21	2012
18	Industrial Bank		Offices	74 m	20	1978
19	Premiere Las Americas		Residencial	74 m	20	1996
20	Pacific Square (2 towers)		Residencial	74 m	20	1994

Places of Interest

Guatemala City has numerous sites of cultural, artistic, and architectural interest. Here is a list of some of the most relevant places:

Places of interest classified by area

Area	Places of interest	Images
Area 1	Museums, art galleries and cultural passages Historic Centre of Guatemala City Craft markets National Library of Guatemala Theatres Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias Squares Historical routes	Area 1 National Palace of Culture Paseo de la Sexta Numismatic Museum and Banco de Guatemala Metropolitan Cathedral It is an area located within zones 1 and 4 that houses offices of the Central Government and the Municipality of Guatemala; among the main buildings is the Cultural Center Miguel Ángel Asturias, the Municipality of Guatemala, the Bank of Guatemala, the National Mortgage Credit, the Ministry of Public Finance, the Palace of Justice and the Guatemalan Social Security Institute. The Café del Ferrocarril Bridge serves as a division between Zone 4 and the Civic Center.
Area 2	Map in Relieve de Guatemala North Hippodrome Simeón Cañas Avenue Baseball Diamond Enrique Torrebiarte Tour de la Cerveza-Cervecería Centroamericana	Area 2 Map in Relieve de Guatemala The Map in Relieve de Guatemala was built by Lieutenant Colonel and Engineer Francisco Vela in 1904-1905, during the government of the licensee Manuel Estrada Cabrera. The map is considered an architectural wonder and is the main attraction in the "North Hypodrome" in the area 2 of Guatemala City.
Area 3	General Cemetery Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera	Area 3 Tomb in better condition; tomb dates back to 1880 Monument to General Justo Rufino Barrios Gate of the Egyptian Pantheon Tomb Venacio Barrios (1894) The General Cemetery of Guatemala City was built during the government of General Justo Rufino Barrios.
Area 4	Four degrees North Museums and art galleries Yurrita Temple Bars and restaurants Squares and monuments	Area 4 Plaza de la República Plaza QUO Four degrees North Street view, area 4 Four North Grades located in Zone 4 is a cultural district located in the city center, has different outdoor activities and multiple restaurants and art galleries.
Area 5	Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores Olympic City Ecological park La Asunción Temples and Squares	Area 5 Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores Aerial view of area 5
Area 6	Estadio Cementos Progreso Parks and shopping centres	Area 6 Estadio Cementos Progreso
Area 7	Kaminaljuyú archaeological site Erick Barrondo Sports Park (La Democracia) Commercial centres	Area 7 Kaminaljuyú
Area 8	Mesoamerican University	Area 8 Mesoamerican University
Area 9	Torre del Reformador Parque de la Industria Avenida Plaza España	Area 9 Torre del Reformador Plaza España Banrural GyT Continental Bank Area 9 is considered the financial centre of the city. It has its central offices the main financial and banking institutions of the country.
Area 10	Universities and galleries of art Ixchel Museum of the Indian Tray Plaza Fontabella Torres Design Center Popol Vuh Museum Living area Botanical Garden Oakland Mall	Area 10 Street view Hotel area Oakland Mall Zone 10, known as Zona Viva, is where the main hotels, restaurants and shopping centers of the city are located, this area is characterized by its activity 24 hours a day.
Area 11	Museum of Miraflores Centro Comercial Miraflores Tikal Futura Guatemala Country Club Golf Metropolitan University Centre Majadas	Area 11 Parks and green areas Miraflores Museum Majadas
Area 12	World Petapa Fun Park Shopping Centres Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala	Area 12 Street view World Petapa Fun Park Building Educational Resources USAC
Area 13	Multiple museums of history, archaeology and culture Zoo La Aurora Domo Polideportivo La Aurora International Airport Flower watch Pinula aqueduct	Area 13 Zoo La Aurora National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Guatemala La Aurora International Airport Pinula aqueduct
Area 14	Avenida Las Américas Parks and Squares Monuments and statues Steps and Pedals Shopping Centres	Area 14 Plaza Colón Plaza Argentina Plaza Dominican Republic Berlin
Area 15	Religious temples Bulevar Vista Hermosa Halls of Boliche Shopping Centres Restaurants and bars	Area 15 Street view - area 15 Tour restaurant in the Bulevar Vista Hermosa
Area 16	Ecological parks Golf Clubs Universidad Rafael Landívar Guatemalan Military Hospital Universidad Panamericana Cayalá City	Area 16 View towards the forest area of the zone 16 Cayalá City Universidad Rafael Landívar
Area 17	Metronorte Shopping Centre Portales Shopping Centre Factory Kern ́s Northern Centra	Area 17 Northern Centra
Area 18	Plaza San Rafael shopping center
Area 19	Plaza Florida Shopping Center
Area 21	Intecap
Areas 20, 22 and 23 are currently part of other jurisdictions Zones 24 and 25 are mostly forested areas

Panorama of Guatemala City

The Urban Panorama of Guatemala City

El Paisaje Urbano de la Ciudad de Guatemala varies according to the area.

Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción is the fourth capital settlement of the Republic of Guatemala, its first inhabitants were prominent families who moved from Santiago de Guatemala after the earthquakes of 1773. Because Guatemala was still part of Spanish rule, its planning had to be authorized by the king, who approved that the Engineer Marcos Ibáñez, main architect of the crown, was in charge of said responsibility. The entire new urban system was built around the Guatemala City Cathedral, which represented the power of the church; the Palace of the Royal Audience, to the ladinos; the Palace of the Captains, to the Spanish Empire, and the Portal del Comercio, to the merchants. Among the most relevant initiatives of the urban system we can mention:

• He is the head of metropolitan territorial order (Edom) in 1972.
• Regulatory framework for the management and revitalization of the Historic Center in 1993.
• First metropolitan development plan and urban revitalization in 1995.
• Plan metropolis 2010 and new bill for the creation of the Guatemalan Metropolitan Area.
• Plan 2020, which includes a new Territorial Planning Plan, created in 2005.
• Project central corridor Aurora-Cañas.
• New heights approved for high-rise buildings in 2016.

During the years 1776-2021, the original colonial layout of the city has become the epicenter of a gigantic urban agglomeration, which by inertia has grown, expanding to the 17 municipalities that make up the Department of Guatemala. Between the years of 1950 and 1970, avenues began to be built that would be of great importance in the future, such as the Roosevelt and San Juan roads and the Raúl Aguilar Bátres road. At the urban level, from 1945 the construction of the City of Sports began in zone 5, very close to the Civic Center, which further promoted the growth of the city to the south. Despite the fact that La Aurora International Airport is located within the city, in recent years a constant vertical growth has been generated that has once again changed the urban landscape of the city.

Urban Planning Department

The Directorate of Urban Planning -DPU- of Guatemala City was created after the approval in 2008 of the Land Management Plan, by Agreement COM-30-08. The functions it currently has were partly performed by the Metropolitan Development Plan Unit. Among the attributions of the Urban Planning Department are to promote different regulatory instruments for land management, to achieve an adequate and efficient use of the territory, using a dense and compact city as a base, equipped with urban facilities to facilitate the development of housing, complemented with commercial and productive activities, thus generating a sustainable urban environment for residents and visitors to the municipality. Likewise, initiatives have been created among the different municipal directorates with the objective of obtaining the integral development of the territory.

City profile

Security

Corvette C7, confiscated from drug trafficking, painted with the colors of the police and used for promotional activities.

The security of Guatemala City is in charge of the Municipal Police and the National Civil Police of Guatemala, in addition to elements of the Guatemalan Army. Likewise, road safety within the city is in charge of the Police Municipal de Tránsito, which has a network of surveillance cameras and speed control radars, monitoring all areas of Guatemala City in real time. The streets and avenues of the city are constantly monitored by special rapid response elements called "Lobos Gril" whose purpose is to prevent criminal or vandal acts, this elite force unit was founded in August 2013 and its members are equipped with a balaclava cap, an 8-pound helmet, a Glock 9 mm pistol, and an Israeli Tabor 5.56 rifle.

Functions

Gril wolves in Guatemala City.

According to article 10 of the PNC Law, the functions of the National Civil Police are the following:

1. On its own initiative for complaint or order of the Public Prosecutor ' s Office;
2. Investigate persecutable facts of office and prevent them from being brought to further consequences;
3. Gathering useful investigative elements to inform prosecution in criminal proceedings;
4. Assistants and protects individuals and ensures the preservation and custody of assets at risk for any cause.
5. Maintain and restore, where appropriate, public order and security.
6. Prevent the commission of criminal acts, and prevent them from being brought to further consequences.
7. To apprehend persons by court order or in cases of flagrante delicto and make them available to the competent authorities within the legal period.
8. To capture, receive and analyse as many data have an interest in public security, study, plan and execute methods and techniques for the prevention and combat of crime and directly require judges, in cases of extreme urgency, to carry out judicial acts determined with immediate news to the Public Prosecutor ' s Office.
9. Collaborate with civil protection services in cases of serious risk, disasters and calamity publishes in the terms established by law.
10. To monitor and inspect compliance with the general laws and regulations, by carrying out the orders it receives from the authorities in the field of their respective competences.
11. Prevent, investigate and prosecute offences established in the existing laws of the country.
12. Collaborate and provide assistance to the civil security forces of other countries, in accordance with the International Treaties or Agreements to which Guatemala is a party or has signed.
13. Control companies and entities that provide private security services, register authorizing and controlling their personnel, means and actions.
14. Coordinate and regulate all matters relating to the obligations of the Department of Transit, as set out in the relevant law.
15. Organize and maintain the personal identification file and police history throughout the national territory.
16. Address the requirements that, within the legal limits, receive from the Judicial Agency, the Public Prosecutor ' s Office and other competent bodies.
17. Promote the accountability and participation of the population in the fight against crime.
18. The others that assign you the law.

Culture

Nightlife

Guatemala City at night.

Zona 10 — also known as the Zona Viva — has been a dedicated nightlife spot since the 1980s. Originally for the city's elite who lived in the surrounding area, places like "Dash" and "Kahlúa » were the favorite entertainment centers. With the migration of the wealthy classes to the eastern area of the city, known as "Carretera a El Salvador", and the application of the "Dry Law" -which prohibited the consumption of alcoholic beverages after two in the morning- during the government of Jorge Serrano Elías in 1992, the level of entertainment centers decreased somewhat, with the population they attended coming from the middle and upper-middle classes of the city's society. In the XXI century the «Zona Viva» has become a family recreation center with the opening of the shopping center « Oakland Mall" and "Fontabella" and with the proliferation of haute cuisine restaurants.

Four North Grades, located in Zone 4 of the city.

At the beginning of the xxi century, «Ciudad Cayalá» was built on the unoccupied land that was on the banks of the «Boulevard Austriaco», an important road that It was built in the 1990s and links zones 15 and 16 with zones 1, 5 and 6 of the city, through Boulevard Lourdes and Calzada de la Paz, respectively. "Ciudad Cayalá" is a complex that has all kinds of activities, dedicated mostly to the upper and middle class population that lives in the surroundings; The activities included in this complex range from the traditional bars, restaurants and nightclubs to golf and surfing in artificial waves.

Zona Viva, located in zone 10 of the city.

In the 21st century, the nightlife of the Historic Center restarted together with the remodeling of the "Paseo de la Sexta" in the middle of the decade 2000. Several bars and dance centers opened their doors, as well as the "Teatro de los Huitecos" on Seventh Avenue, in front of the National Palace of Culture. In 2002, the cultural district "Cuatro Grados Norte" joined the different attractions, which has bars, restaurants, shopping and cultural activities and has become one of the fashionable and open-minded areas of the city.

Monster Jam live event in the city.

Celebrations and parties

• August Fair: celebration of the patron saint of the city, the Virgin of the Assumption. It has been held since the century xix in the area occupied by the North Hippodrome.
• November Fair: celebration that began in the 1930s to commemorate the president's birthday, General Jorge Ubico Castañeda. After the fall of the ubiquitous regime in 1944, the celebration was suspended but started again as National Fair and INTERFER in the Industry Park in the 1970s.

Traditions

• Holy Week: celebration that had a boom during the liberal governments of the generals Justo Rufino Barrios, Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián and José María Reyna Barrios, when following the recommendation of Pope Leo XIII, they countered the positivist tendency of those governments with public manifestations of faith. President Reyna Barrios allowed more freedoms for these demonstrations, which maintained their validity during the first half of the century xx And then, after the overthrow of Colonel Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán and the taking of the government by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, they have had an exponential boom. Here is the list of the main professional courts that run through the streets of the Historic Center of the city:

• "Guatemala Classic Day"Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation with the prayer of December 8 of the First and Principal Patron of the Republic of Guatemala, the Immaculate Conception. Leaving the temple of San Francisco, Basilica Minor and entering the early hours of the morning.

Steps and Pedals

Pasos y Pedales is a recreational program of the Municipality of Guatemala City that consists of regulating the passage of vehicles in certain streets and avenues every Sunday, in order to enable linear parks where people can freely perform, different recreational and sports activities in a safe and supervised manner.

The Steps and Pedals project was born in 2001 during the administration of the former mayor of Guatemala City, Fritz García-Gallont. One of García-Gallont's main lines of work was to promote the participation of the neighbor in sports-recreational and cultural activities. His idea was to create a healthy and safe recreation program for the population of both Guatemala City and surrounding municipalities. After many years of slow planning, during the administration of the current mayor of Guatemala City, Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen, in 2012 the idea was resumed, giving it continuity and importance and finally being considered culminated. Since then this program has been carried out every Sunday in Guatemala City.

Mundo Petapa Amusement Park

IRTRA Mundo Petapa

World Petapa Fun Park, located in zone 12 of the city.

IRTRA Mundo Petapa, is an amusement park located in zone 12 of Guatemala City, (Avenida Petapa Sur, between 41 and 43 street). It was inaugurated on March 26, 1976 and reopened on August 13, 2010 (expansion and improvements in amusement areas). It currently has a greater capacity since it can serve more than 12,500 concurrent visitors. Among the amusement games, the following stand out: Remolino y Tronco Splash (games with water), Motobala (roller coaster with a speed of 60 km/h in 2 seconds), Skyscrapers with a height of 54 meters, among others. Another important attraction in the park is the Plaza Mi Barrio, with replicas of the city's historic buildings. The IRTRA (Institute for Recreation of Workers of the Private Company of Guatemala) is a Guatemalan Institution dedicated to providing leisure and recreation with excellence in service. An IRTRA member has the right, with his identification card (Affiliate Card), to enter the different parks free of charge with a maximum of 5 family members (parents, spouse, and children). Those who are not affiliated and also foreign tourists can use the IRTRA facilities, paying their entrance fee.

Sports

Guatemala City has several sports fields and is home to many sports clubs. Soccer is the most popular sport: Comunicaciones and Municipal are the most important clubs, who play the Guatemalan soccer classic. The SC University and previously the Aurora and the National Typography have also stood out in the city.

The city has hosted various promotional functions and some international sporting events: in 1950 it hosted the VI Central American and Caribbean Games, and in 2000 the FIFA Futsal World Championship. On July 4, 2007, the International Olympic Committee met in Guatemala City and voted Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.^{[citation needed]}

Doroteo Guamuch Flores National Stadium

Photograph of the Stadium of the Revolution shortly after its inauguration in 1950.

He took possession of Colonel Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán as president of Guatemala in the "State of the Revolution" in 1951.

Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores in 2013, restored with blue synthetic track

It is the largest stadium in Guatemala and the seventh largest in Central America. It was built in 1948 by the Government of Dr. Juan José Arévalo, as part of the Olympic City that was built in "La Barranquilla" to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950. Originally called "Olympic Stadium of the Revolution", it was It was renamed in honor of long-distance runner Doroteo Guamuch Flores, who was the winner of the Boston Marathon in 1952. Until the year 2000, its official capacity was fifty thousand spectators, but when seats were placed in all its sectors, the capacity was reduced to twenty-six thousand. It is mainly used for football matches; The stadium has hosted most of the home matches of the National Soccer Team throughout its history and is the home of the Municipal Club, one of the teams with the longest tradition in the country.^{[citation required ]}

Cementos Progreso Stadium

The Cementos Progreso stadium is a multipurpose arena, located at 15 avenida 28-00, Zona 6, La Pedrera. It was inaugurated on November 11, 1979 in a soccer match between CSD Municipal and the Costa Rica soccer team (1-2). It has capacity for 14,022 seated spectators and 32,002 using grass and facilities for sports services and for the public; Its soccer field complies with FIFA regulatory measures for international games. The synthetic athletics track that it owns was the first in Central America, and complies with the regulatory measures of the International Athletics Federation. It is the headquarters of the CSD Comunicaciones soccer club and the third largest stadium in Guatemala.

Army Stadium

In the early 1960s, the idea came to build a stadium that would be the headquarters of the soccer team Aurora F.C., owned by the Guatemalan army. The board of directors of that time, chaired by Adrián Rodríguez, began the negotiations requesting its construction from the Minister of National Defense, Colonel Rafael Arreaga Bosque, and the Head of State, Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia. The works began on an already existing stadium in zone 5 of the city, with the remodeling of the grass, and it was inaugurated on October 3, 1964, having as the only stands one built of wood. Later the stands were built and later, the last construction being the "General South", inaugurated on April 2, 1970.

Revolution Stadium

The Revolution Stadium is located inside the university city, it is the headquarters of the Universidad SC team. Its name is in honor of the Glorious Revolution of October 20, 1944.

Shamrock Stadium

The Estadio Manuel Felipe Carrera or commonly called Estadio del Treból, current official headquarters of the Municipal team, was previously used for the training of said team, derived from the remodeling that the National Stadium underwent, the team was forced to change venues for their home matches, so they decided to use it officially for their home matches and which has gradually undergone renovations, it has a maximum capacity of 10,000 fans.

Autonomy Stadium

Before the Ciudad de los Deportes was built in 1948, the stadium with the largest capacity in the city was the Autonomía stadium, which was located next to the Central Penitentiary and was demolished in 1970 along with the Penitentiary to that the buildings of the Ministry of Public Finance and the Supreme Court of Justice be built in the Civic Center of the city.

Baseball Diamond Enrique Torrebiarte

Located in the Hipódromo del Norte, at the end of «Simeón Cañas» avenue in zone 2 of the city, the diamond dates from the beginning of the XX century. Originally the adjacent Temple of Minerva was its only stands; but this changed in 1950, when the current facilities were built, in preparation for the Central American and Caribbean Games that were then held in Guatemala. The stadium was originally called "Diamante Minerva" and kept that name until it was renamed in honor of the player Enrique Torrebiarte. In 1952, it was expanded when the government of Colonel Jacobo Árbenz demolished the temple.

Sports Center Dome

Party of Football Room at Domo Polideportivo.

The Sports Center Dome of the Autonomous Sports Confederation of Guatemala (CDAG), popularly known as "Zone 13 Dome" or simply as "Dome" (due to the type of its roof structure), is a multipurpose arena located in zone 13. Built on the old "Plaza de Toros" in zone 13, it was specially built to host the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Championship and has a capacity of seven thousand five hundred spectators. The venue is owned and operated by the CDAG, and is also used for musical performances, as well as sports, cultural and political activities for which the CDAG leases the site. According to the CDAG, the Dome is a beautiful place, but the high cost of its operation has affected its role in sports, because most of the country's sports federations and associations cannot afford the cost of its use. In 2003, 60 percent of the activities carried out in the Dome were not related to sports.

Predecessor: Barranquilla	Central American and Caribbean City 1938	Successor: Mexico City
Predecessor: --	Central American 1973	Successor: San Salvador
Predecessor: San Salvador	Central American 1986	Successor: Tegucigalpa
Predecessor: San Pedro Sula	Central American 2001	Successor: Several cities in Central America
Predecessor: Guatemala City	Central American 2006	Successor: Panama City

Twinned cities

The city belongs to the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities, it is also twinned with 28 cities, which are:

Twinning cities

City	Jurisdiction	Country	Year
Caracas	Capital District	Venezuela Venezuela	1969
Freedom	Capital District	Venezuela Venezuela	1969
San Salvador	San Salvador	El SalvadorEl Salvador	1979
Madrid	Madrid	SpainSpain	1983
Lima	Province of Lima	Peru Peru	1987
Santiago de Chile	Metropolitan Region	ChileChile	1991
Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	United States	1991
Saltillo	Coahuila	Mexico Mexico	1993
Havana	Havana	CubaCuba	1997
Bogotá	Capital District	ColombiaColombia	1997
Monterrey	Nuevo León	Mexico Mexico	1998
San Pedro Sula	Cortes	HondurasHonduras	1999
Santa Cruz de Tenerife	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	SpainSpain	2002
San José	San José	Costa RicaCosta Rica	2005
Panama City	Panama	Panama Panama	2005
Taipei		Taiwan	2007
Managua	Managua	NicaraguaNicaragua	2008
Beijing	Beijing	ChinaChina	2009
Juliaca	Puno	Peru Peru	2010
Cartagena de Indias	Bolívar	ColombiaColombia	N/A
San Pedro Tlaquepaque	Jalisco	Mexico Mexico	N/A
Mexico City		Mexico Mexico	N/A
San Juan	Puerto Rico	United States	N/A
Brasilia	Federal District	BrazilBrazil	N/A
Providence	Rhode Island	United States	N/A
Hollywood	Florida	United States	N/A
Kfar Saba	Central District	IsraelIsrael	N/A
Doral	Florida	United States	2017

Other Twinnings

It also belongs to the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI) which is an association that brings together 29 other cities in Ibero-America.

Predecessor: Barranquilla	Central American and Caribbean City 1950	Successor: Mexico City
Predecessor: San Juan	Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2015	Successor: Andorra La Vella
Predecessor: Assumption	Green Capital of the Americas 2019	Successor: Santiago de Chile
Predecessor: Santiago de Chile	Green Capital of the Americas 2021	Successor: