Antigua Earthquake Baroque Architecture Audio Guided Walking Tour

Antigua was built on a fault line, and its colonial builders learned the hard way what stands up and what falls down. Major earthquakes in 1717, 1751, and finally 1773 brought the great churches down one by one, and in between the builders worked out a structural language now called Barroco Antigueno, or Earthquake Baroque. This self-guided audio walk teaches you to read it across nine stops: the cathedral whose tall slim columns did not survive, the arcade that spreads its load across many small spans, the Santa Catalina Arch and its lesson in compression, La Merced with its two-metre walls and stucco skin, the circular tower of Capuchinas built with no corners for the shaking, and Santa Clara, where half the cloister fell and half still stands. Because it is self-guided, the walk is yours. Start whenever you like, go at your own pace, skip a stop or replay one. No group, no fixed departure, no tip pressure. Narrated in English and Spanish, it works offline and is yours to keep.