Arco

The Santa Catalina Arch in Guatemala’s city of Antigua is an icon of a lost colonial masterpiece. The city was founded by conquistadors in 1543 and later become one of the most celebrated in the Spanish indies. It lies in the shadow of Volcan Agua, but a series of brutal earthquakes decimated the settlement, causing its abandonment in 1773. Antigua Guatemala lay in ruins until it was declared a national monument in 1944. It is now the darling of the tourist trail, and the arch its centrepiece.