Santa Catalina Arch and Volcán de Agua, Antigua Guatemala

Santa Catalina Arch with its yellow clock tower frames a cobblestone street in colonial Antigua Guatemala, with Volcán de Agua rising in the background.
Santa Catalina Arch with its yellow clock tower frames a cobblestone street in colonial Antigua Guatemala, with Volcán de Agua rising in the background.

Santa Catalina Arch spans 5a Avenida Norte in Antigua Guatemala, one of the city's most recognized colonial structures. It was built in 1694 to let cloistered nuns of the Santa Catalina convent cross the street to an adjoining school without being seen in public, as their order's rules forbade. The convent itself was founded in 1609 and largely destroyed by the 1773 earthquake that led Spanish authorities to relocate the colonial capital to present-day Guatemala City. The arch's clock tower was added in the 19th century, after the city had already been abandoned as the seat of government. Volcán de Agua, a roughly 3,760-meter stratovolcano, rises directly south of the city and is visible through the arch on clear days.

Taken February 2020

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Antigua
Historic center of Antigua Guatemala: Santa Catalina Arch, markets, ruins and surrounding volcanoes
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