San Francisco el Grande Ruins in Antigua Guatemala

The Church and Convent of San Francisco el Grande sit in Antigua Guatemala, a city founded by Spanish colonists in 1543 as the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. Franciscan friars established the original complex in 1579, building it into one of the largest religious compounds in the colonial capital, with a school, printing press, and infirmary attached to the church. The 1773 Santa Marta earthquake, which prompted the Spanish crown to relocate the capital to present-day Guatemala City, left much of the structure in ruins that were never fully rebuilt. A restored portion of the church still functions as an active parish and holds the tomb of Hermano Pedro de San José Betancur, a Franciscan lay brother canonized in 2002. Antigua's historic center, including these ruins, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

Photo taken in February 2020.