Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, Antigua Guatemala

The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales anchors the south side of Antigua Guatemala's Parque Central, the plaza at the heart of the former colonial capital. Spanish authorities first built a residence for the captains general on this site in 1558, and the structure was rebuilt several times after repeated earthquake damage before taking its present form in 1764. The two-story facade, with its arcaded galleries and mixtilinear stonework, follows the Baroque style that developed in Antigua after the 1717 earthquake destroyed earlier buildings. From here, Spanish governors administered the Captaincy General of Guatemala, a jurisdiction that once stretched from Chiapas to Costa Rica. Antigua Guatemala was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, largely for the survival of colonial landmarks like this one.

Photo taken in February 2020.