Have you seen the majestic Volcán de Agua? It towers over the town of Santa María de Jesús like a watchful guardian. Today, you are standing right before the entrance of this ancient church. It’s a portal to the intriguing history of this community, and, well, you could even say, to the history of Guatemala itself. Many centuries ago, around the 16th century, during the time when the Spanish conquistadores arrived, this was the place where people would gather ice from the top of Volcán de Agua and bring it back to the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. This was a highly appreciated and important job as there were no modern means of refrigeration. When the British explorer, Alfred Percival Maudslay, traveled on foot to conquer this volcano, he used Santa María de Jesús as his base. He later returned with his wife, Anne Cary Maudslay, who wrote about her adventures in their book “A Glimpse at Guatemala”. You can feel the stories of these people from long ago as you look around the plaza, which once had a magnificent wall that, today, is just a fragment. If you look closely, you can feel the echoes of their daily lives within these cobbled streets. And yet, here in Santa María de Jesús, in this time and on this very ground, you can feel that this place has never lost its charm.
Iglesia San Pedro
Gazing up at the Iglesia San Pedro, did you ever imagine it sharing a wall with a hospital? This unique