Parked Cars Along a Colonial Street in Antigua Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala's cobblestone streets date to the Spanish colonial period, when the city served as the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 until 1773. A major earthquake that year forced the colonial government to abandon the city for present-day Guatemala City, which left Antigua's low, single-story construction largely untouched by later development. UNESCO added the historic center to its World Heritage List in 1979, recognizing its grid of streets laid out under Renaissance urban planning principles and its collection of Spanish Baroque architecture. Building codes in the historic district still restrict height and require earth-toned or traditional color palettes on street-facing facades, a rule tied directly to the city's preservation status.