Guate

History

Guatemala de la Asuncion was founded in 1776 when Guatemala was still a Spanish colony.

Santiago de los Caballeros, capital of the "Capitanía General de Guatemala" (what is now Central America and Yucatan, had been badly damaged by an earthquake followed by a mudslide. The location was considered too risky by the Spanish crown due to the proximity of three active volcanoes, and so it was decided to re-locate the capital in the valley of the Ermita, about 40km away.

The city was planned in a grid system, with avenues in the N/S direction and streets in the E/W direction, and started growing slowly, as many people did not want to leave Antigua.

Rapid expansion started in the early 20th century, when the city became the heart of the economic activity.

The city has been shaken by two major earthquakes, in 1917 and 1976.

Moving Around

Modern Guatemala City (or just Guate as we call it) is composed of 21 districts, or zonas disposed in a spiral shape around the historic center (zonas 1 and 2). The most interesting areas are located in zones 1 and 2 (Centro Historico), zone 4 (Centro Civico), zone 10 (Zona Viva), and zone 13 (La Aurora).

Although originally planned in a grid system, local topography and lack of rban planning has turned the capital into a tentacular being spreading over various valleys. Reading an address is not always straightforward. The 6a calle 11-24 zona 13 will be located on the 6th Street, between the 11th and the 12th avenue, house number 24. However, the 11th and the 12th avenues can be separated by a canyon, or "barranco", and have two completely different accesses.

So the best way to move around is to find your address on a map, or ask someone. If you speak Spanish, Guatemalans know their capital well and can be very helpful! You can walk in Guatemala City, but the city is not made for that. Small sidewalks, long distances and pollution will not make walking all over Guate your most pleasing experience. Probably the best way to visit the town is to see a neighborhood, and then take a bus to move to a different area. Buses remain a very popular way of transportation in Guatemala City, used intensively by the middle class, the upper class preferring to drive.

Safety should not be a concern during the day, however a couple recommendations should be useful:

• Avoid walking in the streets or using buses after 7pm outside of the Zona Viva, streets become very empty
• Keep your bags between your legs while traveling in the buses, try not to display jewelry, watches or cameras
• It's always better to be two or three than alone
• The taxi system has expanded a great deal in the past few years. Prices are roughly half of what you would expect to pay in Europe or the United States.

This makes taxi transportation about 10 times more expensive than bus, but such enormous gaps are quite frequent in Guatemala (for food, clothes, transportation, books, ...)