Guatemala

Guatemala (Santiago de Guatemala; also Guatemala la Nueva), capital of the republic of Guatemala, and the largest and most important city of Central America, stands on a wide plateau, nearly 4900 feet above sea-level, and 72 miles by rail NNE. of its port, San José. It is regularly built, with wide, roughly-paved streets running at right angles, and houses nearly all of one story; the extensive suburbs are inhabited chiefly by Indians. In the plaza the metropolitan cathedral towers above the government buildings, which include the large, one-story residence of the president. There are numerous other churches, several large hospitals, and the archbishop's palace. Education is cared for in the Instituto Nacional, with laboratories, a museum, a zoological garden, and a good meteorological observatory; and in well-appointed schools of arts and design, agricultural and business colleges, normal schools, a polytechnic institute, and schools of law and medicine—all supported by government. Other public structures are two large general markets, a subsidised theatre, and a bull-ring. Tramways and the electric light have been introduced, and there are a score of public fountains and washing-places; but the water, brought 6 miles by an aqueduct, is not good. There are some manufactures and a considerable commerce, all the foreign trade of the republic being concentrated here. Pop. (1895) 85,000.—The present city of Guatemala is the third capital of that name. The first, now called Ciudad Vieja, lies on the plain between Fuego and Agua. It was founded by Alvarado in 1524, and destroyed in 1541 (see GUATEMALA). It has a population now of some 3000 Indians. The second capital, Guatemala la Antigua (Old Guatemala), 2½ miles NE. of the first and 21 miles WSW. of the present capital, was one of the finest cities of America, with a hundred churches and 60,000 inhabitants; in 1773 it was for the second time destroyed by an earthquake, but among the noble ruins a new city has arisen, lit also with the electric light, and sheltering a population of at least 14,000.