Antigua Guatemala got inscribed really early, in a time when no significant substantiation was necessary: “A fundamental site, a well understood history, an appropriate inscription”. It has been on the tourist trail forever it seems, and – similar to Oaxaca – the town has geared itself fully to tourism. The indigenous people have been pushed to the fringes, making space for a boutiquey kind of international lifestyle. Antigua also has the appeal of the language schools for foreign students, so naïve 19-year old US Americans are an important target audience too (read the wikivoyage page for example, which seems to be written with worried parents in mind: “Don’t drink the water. You will die!”).

A visit to its core area takes half a day at most. The places that I visited:

• Santa Catalina Arch: the most iconic structure in town, build for the nuns to cross the street between two parts of their convent without being bothered. Photos are better in the morning, as the volcano in the background is usually covered in clouds later in the day.
• La Merced: one of the few buildings in Antigua to withstand the Santa Marta earthquake. It has the prettiest façade of all town with intricate stucco work. Best in the afternoon for photos.
• Las Capuchinas: a good example of a ruined convent, of which there are several in town. Q40 entrance fee.
• The Cathedral: the façade is still intact after the earthquake of 1773 and it functions again as a church. The ruïns of the former cathedral can be visited from an entrance around the corner and require a Q20 entrance fee. Also best in the afternoon for photos of the façade.
• Convento Santa Clara has a sculptured façade (hidden behind the current entrance) and a large complex with gardens, cloisters, and everything you’d expect from a convent. The upper level has a nice view of the surrounding mountains. Q40 entrance fee.
• Iglesia de San Francisco el Grande: a popular church with the indigenous population due to it being the final resting place of the first Catholic saint to hail from Guatemala.

The WHS plaque is chiseled into the exterior wall of the City Hall at Parque Central.

If you have more time to spend here, you could check out one of the eight additional locations, which are within a 10km radius around Antigua. They all date from the same era as Antigua itself (mid-16th century), but it is unclear what they add to the inscription.

This visit in February 2022 was actually my second, I had been there in 1997 as well. I downgraded my rating a bit (from 3.5 to 3 stars), as Antigua isn’t that great. Where other Spanish-colonial cities have kept their (baroque) religious institutions and expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries, all is in ruins in Antigua and any wealth that once was there now is invisible.