San Jose Cathedral (ruins), Antigua

The first cathedral on this site was begun in 1545; construction was so poor, however, that the structure was in a constant state of disrepair, and an earthquake in 1583 brought down much of the roof. In 1670 work started on a new cathedral worthy of the town's role as a capital city.

For 11 years the town watched as conscripted Maya labored and the most spectacular colonial building in Central America took shape. The scale of the new cathedral was astounding: a vast dome, five naves, eighteen chapels, and a central chamber measuring 90m by 20m. Its altar was inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ivory and silver, and carvings of saints and paintings by the most revered of European and colonial artists covered the walls.

The new cathedral held out the 1689/1717 quakes, but its walls were weakened and the 1773 upheaval sent them tumbling to the ground. Today, two of the chapels have been restored as the Church of San José, which opens off the Parque Central; inside is a figure of Christ by the colonial sculptor Quirio Cataño, who also carved the famous Black Christ of Esquipulas.

Behind the church, entered from 5 Calle Oriente, are the ruins of the rest of the structure; a mass of fallen masonry, broken arches and hefty pillars, cracked and moss-covered, the great original cupola now a window to the sky. At the very rear of the original nave, steps lead down to a burial vault, blackened by candle smoke, that's regularly used for Maya religious ceremonies – an example of the coexistence of pagan and Catholic beliefs, so characteristic of Guatemala.