Antigua Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala used to be the capital of the city until the earthquakes of 1773 destroyed a big part of the city, back then it was known as Santiago de los Caballeros. When the new capital was settled, it received the name of Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción -which in turned made Santiago the "Antigua Guatemala"-.
Antigua is pretty close to today's capital, so close that I can get there from my house after a short 30 minutes ride! I'm absolutely in love with the city -which by the way is a Unesco World Heritage Site- because it has a wonderful colonial style, with amazing streets and extraordinary houses, surrounded by amazing hills and volcanoes. We went for lunch with some friends last December, and while walking around we stopped by the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo and took some awesome pictures in one of the courtyards. I used these for my inspiration for a swap over at iATCs, the only requirement in this one was to use only colored pencils; so all of these are done just with my beloved Prismacolor colored pencils!
I highly recommend visiting La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo where Rudy Girón has been posting a daily photo from Antigua since 2006, his photos are really extraordinary as well as his posts and you will get a true feel of what life is like in this beautiful city.