Guatemala Guide
Antigua
Cathedral of San José
Address: Parque Central
The most imposing of the plaza's surrounding structures is the Cathedral of San José, on the eastern side, its intricate facade evocatively illuminated at night. The first cathedral on this site was begun in 1545, using some of the vast fortune left by Alvarado's death. The 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 eleven years the town watched as conscripted Maya laboured 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 withstood earthquakes in 1689 and 1717, but its walls were weakened and the 1773 earthquake brought them crashing 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 (US$0.40) 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 just 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 that's so characteristic of Guatemala.