Ciudad Vieja
Guatemala
In 1527, Spanish colonists established Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala here, in the Almolonga Valley on the slopes of Volcán de Agua — making Ciudad Vieja the second site of what would become Guatemala's colonial capital. The city was destroyed in 1541 by a catastrophic lahar from that same volcano, killing the governor Beatriz de la Cueva and forcing survivors to abandon the site. Today the district of San Miguel Escobar preserves the ruins of that lost capital, and the wider Sacatepéquez region is ringed by UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- Population33,405
- Nearest water0.9 km
- Nearest mountain5.8 km
- UNESCO within 50 km9