Source: WTL© digital photograph taken on site in Antigua, Guatemala.
Comments: Perhaps the most iconic monument in Antigua is the Catedral de Santiago (St. James the Major Cathedral) on the east side of the Parque Central, and it is the primary Antigüeñan humanities object on which we shall focus in HUM 2461. Looking carefully behind the statue of Santa María in the arch above the main door in the center of the façade, you see the sky. That is because, except for this magnificent façade and a few other parts of the building, the cathedral was destroyed by an earthquake in 1773. Hence, the style we see here is mostly Neoclassical, but it has touches that remind us of earlier styles reminiscent of the Renaissance and the Plateresque period. We shall study this building in detail starting in: => Antigua #5.