Semana Santa—Holy Week in the Spanish-Colonial city of Antigua Guatemala—offers a spectacle worth a visit whether or not you celebrate Easter.
Main attractions at this UNESCO World Heritage city are the colorful, hand-made alfombras, designed by Guatemalans months before the celebration.
Within a 24-hour span, layers of sand are placed on Antigua's cobblestone streets and then covered with multi-colored sawdust, decorations, pine needles, flowers, and other plants, creating exquisite natural carpets.
On Good Friday, floats with the 14 stations of the cross are hoisted by thousands of purple-hooded devotees, and carried in sorrowful processions along the flower-carpeted streets, sometimes half a mile long..
While the intricate carpets take great skill and effort, the processions walk directly over the alfombras, destroying them as they pass. A cleaning team then sweeps up all signs of the works of art. The symbolism is beautiful, moving and sacrificial.
Beyond the fragility of the alfombras, Antigua itself, the capital of all Central America for 200 years, has remained a fragile beauty. Set dramatically at the base of active volcanoes, the city was practically destroyed by an earthquake in 1773 and the capital was relocated to Guatemala City. But the cobblestone streets and blocks of Spanish-Colonial architecture remain among the best- preserved anywhere.
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I first visited Antigua in 1990, when I attended a language school there; today students of all ages still come to learn, as Spanish spoken here is considered among the best and clearest outside of Spain.
Preparations for Holy Week were beginning when I recently visited again on a tour from a Regent Seven Seas Explorer cruise. Along the way we passed remains of the 2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption that left almost no evacuation time, and caused the death of nearly two hundred people.
In Antigua we hired a government approved guide who walked with us to some of the main attractions. We started at Arco de Santa Catalina, built in the 17th century, and the gateway to the city. It originally connected the Santa Catalina convent to a school, allowing the cloistered nuns to pass from one building to the other without going out on the street.
Plaza Central Park, the hub of the city, provides flowering trees, a central fountain, craft vendors and eateries, and is a great place to rest on a bench and enjoy the locals passing by in their colorful textiles.
Tanque La Union is another historic gathering place, used for centuries by women to wash their clothing. Now it's part of a park.
Ruins, monasteries, churches are on every block. Santo Domingo Church and Monastery, with two towers containing ten bells, can be traced back to 1538 when the Dominicans arrived in Guatemala. The Iglesia de La Merced is a yellow and white baroque church, with a garden and chapel.
Casa Santo Domingo, a former monastery, is now a world-class five-star hotel set within and among artifacts largely uncovered during archaeological restoration.
Rooms fit the style of the exterior and are large, comfortable, and spotless. At a minimum, visit the grounds and museum, and have a lunch or candlelit dinner among art, ruins and bougainvillea. A lovely spot to reflect on the beauty and history of Antigua.
