Ciudad Vieja (Sacatepéquez)
| Ciudad Vieja | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Coordinates: 14 ° 31 ′ N , 90 ° 46 ′ W Ciudad Vieja on the map of Guatemala
|
||
| Basic data | ||
| Country | Guatemala | |
| Department | Sacatepéquez | |
| City foundation | 1527 | |
| Residents | 28,615 (2014) | |
| Detailed data | ||
| surface | 51 km 2 | |
| Population density | 561 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| height | 1550 m | |
| Time zone | UTC −6 | |
 |
||
 |
||
Ciudad Vieja ("old city") is a municipality ( municipio ) with about 30,000 inhabitants in the central highlands of Guatemala . The capital of the Spanish colonies in Central America was located here from 1527 to 1541 .
location
The community, located about 6 km southwest of Antigua, extends at the foot of the Agua volcano at an average altitude of about 1550 m above sea level. d. M. Guatemala (City) , the capital of the country, is approx. 45 km to the northeast.
Residents
The inhabitants are mostly descendants of various Maya tribal groups; many have immigrated from the surrounding mountain regions. In addition to the Mayan dialects , Spanish is also spoken.
economy
Agriculture forms the basis of food for the population in many ways. Traditional staple foods are corn , beans and tomatoes , but plants imported by the Spanish conquerors such as chilli and onions have also been grown for a long time. Non- native plants mainly for export are coffee , cashews , macadamia and medlar .
history
In the course of the conquest of Guatemala by Pedro de Alvarado , the Spaniards established a first capital in Tecpán Guatemala near Iximché ( Chimaltenango ) on July 25, 1524 . On November 22, 1527, they were moved to Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala , six kilometers southwest of Antigua Guatemala, today's Ciudad Vieja (German: "Old City"). On September 11, 1541, a mudslide buried the place under itself, several hundred people died. On March 10, 1543, Bishop Francisco Marroquín founded the third capital in the nearby Panchoy Valley, which was given the name La Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala (today Antigua Guatemala ) by King Philip II in 1566 .
Attractions
- The most important sight is the former cathedral, built in 1534, with its unadorned, squat side bell towers . The middle part of the facade was redesigned in the baroque period and presented - in addition to various figures of saints - decorative forms of the Churrigueresque style .
- A clock tower ( torre de reloj ) in the nicely designed center of the town was built in the 19th century.
literature
- Wolfgang Gockel : Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. DuMont, Cologne 1999, p. 144, ISBN 3-7701-4732-4
