Why is Saint James the Patron Saint of La Antigua Guatemala?
La Antigua Guatemala used to be the capital city of Guatemala (which meant the Central American territories at the time) and at …
La Antigua Guatemala used to be the capital city of Guatemala (which meant the Central American territories at the time) and at …
July 25 is La Antigua Guatemala Patron’s Day; otherwise known as the fair day of Saint James. Why is Saint James the …
As part of La Antigua Guatemala’s town fair celebrations of Santiago, there are books stands right on Central Park. These book fairs …
If you have been following La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo (LAGDP) for at least a year, you would know that the patron’s …
Santiago was a very popular name for the conquistadors to use as they rechristen the new lands of the American continent. If you check the entry for Santiago in Wikipedia, you will there are over 60 cities and towns throught the world that carry that name and that is a very short list since you could probably find about 60 towns with the Santiago name, just in Guatemala. But why was Santiago such a popular name for the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors?
Almost all town fairs and festivities are around the town’s patron, in this case is San Pedro Las Huertas, which by the way, means Saint Peter of the vegetable gardens. Since Guatemala was a catholic country for the last 500 years or so and the Mesoamerican indigenous people absorbed and mixed the catholic rituals and traditions with their own religious beliefs and traditions, most Guatemalan towns have a Spanish catholic first name and often an indigenous last name (otherwise known as the original name). For example, Santo Domingo Xenacoj, which means the original name of the town was Xenacoj, and the town was re-christen with Santo Domingo. Now with the above information, we now know that a town’s fair happens once-a-year on the town’s catholic patron. For San Pedro Las Huertas the date is June 29th and for La Antigua Guatemala is July 25th because the city used to be called The Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Saint James of the Lords of Guatemala, as mentioned by Manolo a few days ago. And some of you thought La Antigua Guatemala was already a very long name; try explaining to your friends and relatives that you are planning a vacation to The Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Saint James of the Lords of Guatemala.
One of the things I teach in the photo walks I lead is to change perspective often and to look up often to discover interesting subjects, such as these Saint James ceiling tiles.
Did you know we have thousands of images of Santiago [Saint James Apostle] all over Antigua Guatemala such as these ceiling tiles? Do you know why we have so many Santiagos around Antigua Guatemala?
As every Sunday before July 25th, Santiago Apóstol (Saint James Apostle) patron saint for our enchanting colonial city
The Plaza del Apóstol Santiago is located a few hundred meters from the Cerro de la Cruz mirador (look out point). It is easy to miss it if you don’t know it is there. In the middle of the plaza you’ll find the monument to Saint James Apostle.
On July 25 La Antigua Guatemala celebrates the Saint James Apostle Day with all kinds of festivities.
Ferris wheels are another element of the Guatemalan fair. There is at least one Ferris wheel, but more often two or three of different sizes. The Ferris wheel is known here by these names rueda de Chicago(Chicago Wheel), rueda de la fortuna (wheel of fortune) and vuelta al mundo (around the world). Fairs are made up by all kinds of ambulant stands. Fairs are like accordions, they grow or shrink depending of the size of the community or town. All these photos belong to the San Pedro Las Huertas, a small village just outside and belonging to La Antigua Guatemala. At the end of July, La Antigua Guatemala will have its massive fair in honor of Saint James or Santiago.
I captured this night vista of Parque Central and the Former Saint James Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala at the end of afternoon …
The Feast of Corpus Christi marks the beginning of the town fairs season in Antigua Guatemala and surrounding villages. Today I share …
In Guatemala holidays and festivities are not celebrated on the weekend unless that’s date a holiday falls. Today, for instance, we celebrate Día del padre, Father’s Day.
Here’s your illustrated Guatemalan Spanish word of the day: Ayuntamiento for City Hall. Since this year the city of Antigua Guatemala could …
July 25th is the Day of Saint James, Día de Santiago, the patron saint of Antigua Guatemala, formerly known as Santiago de …
There are many iconic images through out Antigua Guatemala, from the mermaids to the Santiagos [Saint James effigies]. Lions are one of …
This emblem of Saint James of Guatemala was carved on a volcanic rock just as many of the architectonic details of the …
The town of Antigua Guatemala was founded as Santiago de Guatemala on July 25, 1524. The location of Antigua Guatemala was third …
Here’s your illustrated Spanish word of the day: Escudo for Coat or Arms. This is one of the oldest representations of the …
As part of the Día de Santiago celebrations on July 25th, or Saint James Day, La Antigua Guatemala has been hosting all …
As every year, a Sunday or two before Día de Santiago, or Saint James Day, celebrated on July 25, a half marathon …
Alejandra is a student showing off her attire for the Saint James Feast school parades. As I have mentioned before, in Antigua …
As every July 25, La Antigua Guatemala, formerly known as La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros …
As part of the celebrations of La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, or The …
Once again, as part of the Día de Santiago festivities, the patron saint of Antigua Guatemala celebrated weeks prior and after July …
Once again we are celebrating Saint James Day in La Antigua Guatemala, or Día de Santiago, as we call it in Spanish. …
Today we have more good news from Antigua Guatemala. Today we celebrate the founding of the City of Santiago de los Caballeros …
Here’s your Guatemalan Spanish word of the day: “Montaña rusa” or roller coaster, although it literally means Russian Mountain. Even though the …
In Guatemala today we celebrate Día del padre or Father’s Day. Can you believe that we still observe holidays and celebrations on …
Most people refer to this hill as Cerro de La Cruz, Hill of the Cross, because there is a huge cross on …
Since Santiago Apostol is the patron saint of Antigua Guatemala, previously Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, it is no wonder you …
As I have mentioned before, every year, on 15th of January, thousands of pilgrims from Guatemala, the United States, Europe, Mexico and …
Sometimes it seems that antigüeños only celebrate with parades and processions. I say this because almost every month you encounter a procession …
As I have mentioned before, Guatemala’s school year begins in January and end in October. So even though in many places of …
C’est la canicule ! ¡Es la canícula! It’s the dog days! Call it what you want, but canícula even though elsewhere it …
The Sunday prior to July 25 (Saint James Day) is the date for the Medio Maratón Las Rosas and in 2011 that …
As every year, there’s a book fair as part of the festivities of Santiago, Saint James, La Antigua Guatemala’s patron saint. As …
La Antigua Guatemala has to be most catholic town in Guatemala, heck make that Central America. Nowhere is Catholicism more solidly embedded …
As I said last year, in Guatemala we could and should write the Manifesto against Convenience. Why you ask? Well, can you …
Today, for instance, in Guatemala we celebrate Día del padre, Father’s Day. So I decided to share with you three photos of a series of a father and her daughter having a tender lunch. The little girl refused to take the byte unless her dad gave it to her on the mouth. These three photos are in reverse order, so the first frame is the thumbnail on the right, next the thumbnail of the left and finally the photograph above as they break into smiles and happy moments. There other photos with both of them smiling, but I love the mirada juguetona, playful look of the lit
Every year, On January 15th, thousands of pilgrims from Guatemala, the United States, Europe and other Central American countries flock to pay …
I wanted to show you the original mermaids and link to the current mermaids at the main fountain in Central Park, but …
Thanks to Byron Ortiz for lending his photos of Semana Santa (Holy Week), so we can get a better picture of the …
Yesterday I showed you a fountain with four streams. Today we have a rare find. This fountain is inside the Museo de …
La Antigua Guatemala was founded as Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (Saint James of the Lords of Guatemala) on July 25th, …
In case you don’t know who Enrique Gómez Carrillo was, here are some highlights taken from Wikipedia: Enrique Gómez Carrillo was a …
The Plaza Mayor better known as Parque Central is full of plain-view secrets and interesting trivia. For instance, did you know there …
Pinar Istek from XelaDailyPhoto thinks she can win by publishing amazing photos of the half marathon in Xela. Ha, she doesn’t know …
With new Municipal government in 2008 came some rather obvious nice things that were missing from the main entrance to La Antigua …
Believe it or not, the land around La Antigua Guatemala was a very ‘fertile’ arid zone before the introduction of the coffee bush as a crop in 1875. I know fertile and arid sound like two mutually exclusive words, but they were not in Guatemala before 18th century where the Nopal and Maguey cactuses were grown in plantations. I’ve even seen photographs of the nopal plantations around La Antigua Guatemala in the CIRMA Fototeca (The Photo Archives at The Center for Mesoamerican Research).
It is official: The California avocado if from La Antigua Guatemala. I had mentioned a couple of times the antigüeños are known as Panzas Verdes (green bellies) because of all the avocados they eat (see trivia 2) and that one Wilson Popenoe took the antigüeño avocado to California (see trivia 3).
La Antigua Guatemala is like a huge living catalog of colonial architectonic design elements. You can walk around the town armed with a camara, notepad and pencil and an eye for detail to capture all the beauty that make up the architecture of The Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Sait James of the Knights of Guatemala. All the colonial architectonic design elements make this an enchanting and haunting little town. It is, certainly, more than the sum of its elements.