Guatemala Guide
Antigua
Parque Unión
Address: 6 Calle Oriente
A block south and a block west of the parque, two churches face each other at opposite ends of the slim, palm-tree-lined plaza of Parque Unión. At the western end is the San Pedro church and hospital. Originally built in 1680, and periodically crammed full of earthquake victims, the church was finally evacuated in 1976 when one of the aftershocks threatened to bring down the roof. Reconstruction was completed in 1991 and the facade now has a polished perfection that's strangely incongruous in Antigua. At the other end of the plaza is the convent and church of Santa Clara, founded in 1699 by nuns from Puebla in Mexico. In colonial times this became a popular place for well-to-do young ladies to take the veil, as the hardships were none too hard, and the nuns earned a reputation for their cooking by selling bread to the aristocracy. The original convent was totally destroyed in 1717, as was the second in 1773, but the current building was spared in 1976 and its ornate facade (floodlit at night) remains intact. In front of Santa Clara are the huge arches of an open-air pila, a wash house where local women gather to scrub, rinse and gossip.