Through The Marvelous Highland

Author : Hamilton Mercer Wright
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781333373627
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (736 download)

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Download or read book Through the Marvelous Highlands of Guatemala (Classic Reprint) written by Hamilton Mercer Wright and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-08-26 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Through the Marvelous Highlands of Guatemala At Mixco we leave the stage road, plunge by a short cut into the hills and by 1 o'clock are in Antigua. It has been said of Antigua that it possesses the most extensive ruins to be found in any one spot in the world. The city was founded by the warrior Alvarado, who was sent south from Mexico about 1541. It was destroyed by an earthquake on July 29, 1773. Although some of its ruined churches have been reconstructed, for the most part the restored city embraces the 'old ruins which have changed but little in appearance in the last 100 years. The giant arches still remain and the mighty walls give a hint of past glories. At the time of its destruction Antigua was the center of the political, economic, and ecclesiastical administration in Central America. Fifty-eight huge edifices, including the cathedral, the governor general's palace, and many handsome churches and their dependent monasteries were laid waste. To my mind the most beau tiful ruin is that of the Church of the Recoleccion, which I was at pains to photograph. Although much of the debris has for genera tions been covered with trailing vines and picturesque shrubs, these but serve to accentuate the majesty of the great pillars and arches which appear capable of enduring for centuries. Of amazing interest, to the writer at least, was the fact that the pigments used in the decorations of the walls and the inner arches of the church were as bright and fresh as if the colors had been applied but yesterday. Venetian red and cerulean blue appeared in attractive mosaics and designs. These are probably outer decorations which led to murals of religious subjects on the ceilings of the central vaults or naves. The volcano Agua towers almost directly above the city of Antigua, at least so it seems, for the gradient is very steep, but a'high ridge leads down the southern side of the mountain by which the ascent is easily made by muleback in a few hours. It is quite customary to ascend the volcano, which has an elevation of feet, to see the sun rise. If the morning is a clear one, Guatemala City, Lake Amatitlan, 15 miles south of Guatemala City, and even the Pacific Ocean may be discerned. Ice forms near the summit of the peak and, as there are many hot springs, one may, as it were, turn the faucet of old Mother Earth for both hot and cold water. There are several. Good inns and hotels in Antigua, with corrals in connection where one may put up his horses. At the inn at which the writer stepped there were a gentleman and his wife from Valparaiso, a family from Cuba, and two ladies and their brother from Boston. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.