Antigua

After several days in the countryside, we drove up through some small villages to Antigua...the most popular tourist site in the area. Antigua is a beautiful town, with cobblestone streets and beautiful churches and architecture. This is the most famous arch in Antigua with the volcano in the back (behind the cloud).
While some of the cathedrals are restored and functioning, this one was in ruin and was not being restored. It was fully fenced and pieces were falling off.

There were many unique doorways throughout the city. As we walked up and down the streets we would take pictures of the different doorways. Austin thought this one looked like a prison gate!

In Antigua there is a working jade factory. The jade itself is found in eastern guatemala and brought to Antigua to be cut and polished into beautiful jewelry and art. This man was shining the jade from the quary before it was to be cut.

In the jade museum was a replica of the ruins at Tikal (which were not able to go see). Jade was the most important material to the Mayans, far surpasing gold and silver.

These masks were in the museum and were found in the tombs of the royalty of Mayan civilization. The people were buried with jade masks that would help them enter into the afterlife with riches and power.

Our day in Antigua included market shopping and dinner at a nice restaurant before heading home. What a fabulous day!