Guatemala Guide
The western highlands
Parque Centro América
The hub of Quetzaltenango is the central plaza, officially known as the Parque Centro América. Here you'll find the requisite stone benches and well-tended flowers and shrubs as well as a monument to former President Barrios – all overshadowed by a mass of Greek columns. With an atmosphere of dignified calm, the plaza is the best place to appreciate the sense of self-importance that accompanied the city's rebuilding after the 1902 earthquake. The buildings have a look of defiant authority, although there's none of the buzz of business you'd expect – except on the first Sunday of the month when it plays host to a good artesanías market, with blankets, basketry and piles of típica weavings for sale.
The Greek columns were probably intended to symbolize the city's cultural importance and its role at the heart of the liberal revolution, but today many of them do nothing more than support street lights. The northern end of the plaza is dominated by the grand Banco de Occidente, complete with sculptured flaming torches. On the west side is Bancafé, and the impressive Pasaje Enríquez, which was planned as a sparkling arcade of upmarket shops, spent many years derelict, and is now slowly on the up again. Inside you'll find one of Xela's best bars, the Salón Tecún, the Dos Tejanos Tex-Mex restaurant and a travel agency. Along the eastern side of the plaza is the cathedral, with a new cement version set behind the spectacular crumbling front of the original. There's another unashamed piece of Greek grandeur, the municipalidad, or town hall, a little further up. Take a look inside at the courtyard, which has a neat little garden set out around a single palm tree.
Further afield, in Zonar 3, the city's role as a regional centre of trade is more evident, with the Mercado La Democracia, a vast, covered market complex with stalls spilling out onto the streets.