Perhaps sculpture is not the right word, but I can’t think of a better word right now to describe this giant metal image of Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt. So who was this character who has inspired so many people and that eventually became a Saint? First, here are the archived articles in Antigua Daily … Read more
At the entrance of the San Francisco El Grande Church, burial home of Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt, you can find this stall of candles. We visited the entrance of this church before with with Monk in San Francisco El Grande Church and The Guatemalan Chever Hot Dog Cart.
To be honest, I am not sure this is Santo Domingo Park. It is the Santo Domingo statue and it is sort of a park, so I put two and two together. If I am mistaken I sure I will be told right away by the people that know better.
Can you name the volcano in the background and give us its height?
Saint Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt is Guatemala’s and Central America’s first saint. He was born in Tenerife, but soon enough he realized a sweeter and greater life awaiting for him in La Antigua Guatemala, then La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. His remains are … Read more
One can start shooting night photography after sunset, usually around 6pm in Antigua Guatemala, at the start of the blue hour, for dramatic contrast between the yellow lights and buildings and the blue sky as shown below. After the blue hour, the sky turns black, which means no natural ambient light is available, as shown … Read more
It’s amazing what a paint job can do. The façade above belongs to the Church of San Pedro, which is the church for the Las Obras del Hermano Pedro Hospital. Well, if you go back in time to November 25th, 2007 and look at the same façade in the background of Marimba Chicken Bus and … Read more
What’s so special about the Esquisuchil trees around La Antigua Guatemala? For starters, the esquisuchil trees (bourreria huanita) are very old and very few. Quite possibly, the oldest specimen is located in San Miguel Escobar where it was planted by Guatemala’s first bishop Francisco Marroquin in the 16th century. From the esquishuchil tree in San … Read more
The sign reads: Here lived Fray Pedro de San José Betancourt, apostle of charity. Born in Tenerife in March [21], 1626. Died here the 25th of April of 1667. So who was this character who has inspired so many people and that eventually became a Saint? First, here are the entries in Antigua Daily Photo … Read more
One important aspect of this particular Nacimiento is the fact that Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt managed to get himself in the picture of the Nativity shrine. For those who are not well verse in Catholic imagery, myself included, normally the Nativity scene shows Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus along with a few animals. No, Santo Hermano Pedro could not be present there since he was born about 1600 years later, give or take a few moons. Rather, the inclusion of his image, on the right, is to celebrate and to remember that is was Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancourt who introduced the Nacimiento and Posadas to the American Continent, to La Antigua Guatemala if you want to be precise, and from this old town, this celebration was taken to the rest of the continent.
Even though I do like capturing the entirety of the façade of Parroquia de San Pedro so I can share it with y’all. Sometimes, it is best to zoom in into a section of the façade to highlight the baroque architectonic details, don’t you think?
In the west end of Parque de La Unión you can see the façade of the entrance to the hospital of Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro. Here you can see the full façade of the Church of San Pedro Apóstol captured against a beautiful cloudscape.
Did you know that nacimientos, pesebres or Nativity were first introduced to the American Continent through the city of Antigua Guatemala by Santo Hermano Pedro? To commemorate such unique event the niche of the Parroquía de Belén, Bethlehem parish, sports a Nativity scene with Santo Hermano Pedro in it. Check it out next time you … Read more
You must watch the video tour and pictures included in this post to believe the complexity and size of this Nativity scene. Heck, they recreated most landmarks of Antigua Guatemala as part of this Nativity scene.
This week will have a mini series on Nacimientos, Nativity scenes, a Guatemalan tradition that goes hand in hand with Posadas, the enactment of the search for shelter of Joseph and Mary right before Christmas.
