National Palace of Culture, Guatemala City (must see)

The National Palace of Culture is a museum built as the headquarters of the President of Guatemala.

In 1921, President Carlos Herrera ordered the construction of the Centenary Palace in only three months with a small budget and few resources. The first palace became known as the Cardboard Palace (Palacio de Carton). It was destroyed in a fire in 1925.

Construction of the current palace began in 1939 and was completed in 1943. The building, designed by architect Rafael Perez de Leon, features Spanish Baroque and Spanish Renaissance architectural styles. Engineers Enrique Reyes, Luis Angel Rodas, and Arturo Bickford assisted with the structural plans. Due to its structural integrity, it was one of the few buildings to survive the earthquake of 1976.

The brick and concrete building is sometimes referred to as The Big Guacamole due to the oxidized copper coating on the exterior. This coating was chosen because green was the favorite color of Marta Lainfiesta Dorion, wife of president Jorge Ubico.

The interior of the palace has 350 rooms with ornate decorations. Large chandeliers and images of quetzals, the national bird of Guatemala, are located throughout the building. Several traffic lights are located in the palace. These were used to signal when the president was in the building, when only government officials were allowed in hallways and when visitors could move freely.

The palace was fully renovated in 2010.