Author's tour "Maya Mira"

Walking tour of Antigua. Antigua Guatemala lies in the wide mountain valley of Panchoy, sandwiched between the cones of the Agua, Acatenango and Fuego volcanoes. The city was founded in 1543 as the third capital of Guatemala, and was called Santiago de Guatemala. All of Guatemala's first three capitals were named after St. James the Apostle or Santiago. And only after the severe Santa Marta earthquake occurred in 1773, the capital had to be moved to a new location in Guatemala City, and after 2 years people began to call the third capital Antigua Guatemala or ancient, old Guatemala. We start in the historical center of Antigua from the main square, visiting the main monuments of the city. We will then head to the town of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, famous for its textiles and crafts. We will then continue to the local town of Santiago Zamora. Here you will learn about the Maya-Kakkikel culture and have the opportunity to interact with a group of women artisans called Ixoqui "ay kiema" who use ancient techniques to make handicrafts, mainly textiles. Overnight at the Villa Colonial Hotel.

On the way to Lake Atitlan we will visit Iximché, an archaeological site located in the city of Tecpán. Iximche was the ancient capital of the Maya-Kaqchikel, where Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado founded Guatemala's first capital in 1524. After visiting it, we will continue our journey to Lake Atitlan. Overnight at the Villa Santa Catarina hotel.

Today we will look at the most interesting cities where the Tzutuhili Mayans still live on Lake Atitlan. And we'll start with San Juan. San Juan is the cleanest and tidiest town on the lake. There are many art galleries here, whose artists paint in the Naive or Primitivist style. There are many women's cooperatives in San Juan. You can visit a women's textile factory, see the hand weaving and natural dyeing processes, and meet a group of comadrons, or midwives, who grow different types of medicinal herbs for natural medicine. Traditional agriculture, fishing, weaving reed mats and the production of high-quality textiles are an integral part of the life of the local population. You definitely won’t find souvenirs from China here. And of course we will try very tasty coffee in one of the coffee shops. Afterwards, we will take a boat to the other side of the lake to the city of Santiago Atitlan. Santiago, founded in 1547 at the foot of the Toliman volcano, is the largest city with a population of 32 thousand people, 95% of whom are Maya Tzutujil. The local population lives by fishing, farming and making cayucos (local canoes). We will also look into the local Catholic church, where two religions merged - Catholicism and Mayan beliefs, and walk past the local city hall, where the city elders sit dressed in white striped shorts and birds embroidered on the bottom. The most real color. Let's return to Antigua. Overnight at the Villa Santa Colonial Hotel.

Today we will go to the largest Mayan highland market, Chichicastenango (Thursday or Sunday only). Chichicastenango was formerly called Chaviar and was an important trading city of the Kaqchikels long before the Spanish conquest. Surrounded by valleys and mountains that obscure the horizon, Chichicastenango can seem isolated in time and space from the rest of Guatemala. When its narrow, cobbled streets and red-tiled roofs are covered in fog, as they often are, it can feel like you're in some kind of fairy tale. Throngs of vendors and tourist groups flock to the country's largest highland market on Thursday and Sunday. If you can choose when to come, it is best to visit the market on a Sunday, as the market is much larger and the cofradias (religious brotherhoods) hold processions in and around St. Thomas Church. The Catholic patron of the city is St. Thomas; the Church of Santo Tomas was built in his honor in the city in 1540. Towards the local cemetery you will see another Catholic Church called Golgotha or Calvario. And what is a market without shopping, so take enough money with you to buy souvenirs. At the market you can pay with American dollars, and more recently with credit cards. The Chichicastenango market is famous mainly for its textiles and masks. Let's return to Guatemala. Overnight at the Barceló Guatemala City hotel.

In the morning, visit the National Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, where you will find an extensive collection of Mayan artifacts. Then we will continue to the city of Copan Ruinas. Overnight at the Clarion Copan Ruinas Hotel.

Visit to the famous ruins of Copan, located almost on the border with Guatemala. The main value of Copan is the unreal beauty and precision of the art on the steles. This site of the Mayan civilization was called the Athens of Mesoamerica. There you will even find a stele made in three dimensions. The Staircase with Hieroglyphs, built by the Mayans during the classical period, is rightfully considered a real work of art. Each of its 63 steps is decorated with complex inscriptions, and balustrades with images of snakes and birds are erected on the sides. Overnight at the Clarion Copan Ruinas Hotel.

We continue to the place of Quirigua. Visit to the archaeological complex of Quirigua - a city of the ancient Mayans, founded by immigrants from Copan in the 2nd century. VII century AD The Quirigua Archaeological Park is included in the UNESCO list of “Historical Heritage of Humanity”. During excavations, 22 monuments called stelae were discovered in the thicket of tropical trees. Sculptures of animals with human features found in the park (for example, a jaguar with a human face), personifying the gods, indicate that Quirigua was the largest religious center of that era. Monolithic sculptures weighing up to 65 tons were carved without the help of iron tools, but ancient sculptors managed to achieve a high artistic level and believability. After the visit we continue our journey to Flores. Overnight at the Villa Maya Hotel.

Tikal is 64 km from Flores, the beautiful capital of Petén, located on an island in Lake Petén Itza. Tikal, meaning “place where the voices of spirits are heard,” appears huge compared to other cities of the classical period—it is the largest settlement of pre-Columbian America. Scientists came to this conclusion after a series of excavations carried out in the late 50s. It has been inhabited since 800 BC. until 900 AD, only to be reconquered by the tropical jungle from the early eleventh century until the early twentieth century, when Tikal was discovered and restoration work began. The urban complex of Tikal (not counting the outskirts) occupied an area of about 16 square meters. kilometers. There were 3 thousand buildings on it, and the pyramids were distinguished by a specific style not found anywhere else in Mesoamerica. Particularly impressive are the six pyramidal temples, which, compared to other buildings of this type, look like real skyscrapers. It is not for nothing that archaeologists called Tikal-New York the Mayan civilization. Today, Tikal National Park covers 575 square kilometers and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 as a cultural and natural heritage of humanity. In the afternoon, transfer to Flores airport for domestic flight to Guatemala. Overnight at the Barcelo Guatemala City Hotel.

Transfer to the international airport.