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The hub of the old city is Zona 1 : a squalid world of low-slung, crumbling nineteenth-century town houses and faceless concrete blocks, broken pavements, parking lots and plenty of noise and dirt. Having been left by the city authorities to rot for decades, tentative signs of regeneration are now beginning to emerge, as a committed group of planners and architects attempt to preserve the capital's heritage, and clusters of new bars and cafes open in historic buildings. It's a process that will take decades to complete, however, and the area remains plagued by pollution and noise from fume- belching buses and beset by social problems. Despite all this, the Zona's streets do possess a certain brutal fascination and are undeniably the most exciting part of the capital. The heart of the city, and the country's political and religious centre, is the windswept Parque Central , from where all distances in Guatemala are measured. Despite its importance, the Parque is a soulless place, patronized by bored taxi drivers, lustradores (shoeshiners) and pigeons, which only really comes alive on Sundays (when there's a good huipil market) and public holidays, when a tide of Guatemalans come to stroll, gossip and snack. The new spirit of Guatemala is detectable here, as soldiers chat with Maya girls, and you may even hear politics being discussed - something unthinkable a decade or so ago. Next to the giant Guatemalan flag is a small box containing an eternal flame dedicated to "the anonymous heroes for peace". For many Guatemalans this is a place of pilgrimage. The Parque's most striking building is the Palacio Nacional , a grandiose stone-faced structure started in 1939 under President Ubico. For decades it housed the executive branch of the government, and from time to time its steps have been fought over by assorted coupsters. The palace is currently being converted into a museum of the history of Guatemala. If you can get inside, it's worth a look at its most imposing features - two Moorish-style interior courtyards and the stained-glass windows of the former Salas de Recepcion on the second floor. On the east side of the plaza is the blue-domed Cathedral (daily 8am-1pm & 3-7pm), completed in 1868. Its solid, squat design was intended to resist the force of earthquakes and has, for the most part, succeeded. Inside there are three main aisles, all lined with arching pillars, austere colonial paintings and intricate altars housing an array of saints. The cathedral's most poignant aspect is outside, however: etched into the twelve pillars that support the entrance railings are the names of thousands of the dead and "disappeared", victims of the civil war, including an astonishing number from the department of Quiche. Around the back of the cathedral is the Mercado Central , housed in three sickly blue-and-yellow layers of sunken concrete; a structure which the architect apparently modelled on a nuclear bunker, sacrificing any aesthetic concerns to the need for strength. Inside, the top floor sells textiles, leatherware and jewellery, the middle floor has flowers, fruit and vegetables, and the bottom has handicrafts - mainly basketry and tipica clothing. Heading south from the Parque Central are 6 and 7 avenidas , thick with clothes shops, fast-food joints and neon signs. On the corner of 6 Av and 13 C is the Iglesia de San Francisco , dating from 1780 and famous for its carving of the Sacred Heart. It's said that cane syrup, egg whites and cow's milk were mixed with the mortar to enhance its resistance to earthquakes. Another block to the south is the police headquarters , an outlandish-looking mock castle with imitation medieval battlements. Just 300m east of the police headquarters along 14 Calle, at the corner with 8 Avenida, Casa Mima (Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; US$2) is an immaculately restored late nineteenth-century town house with original furnishings from various periods, including Moderne, Art Deco and French neo-Rococo, offering a fascinating glimpse into a wealthy middle-class household of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are excellent explanatory leaflets, and usually an English-speaking guide on hand, plus a delightful little cafe on the rear patio, with good coffee and cookies. As you head south from Casa Mima, along 8 Avenida, things go into a slow but steady decline, until you finally emerge in the madness of 18 Calle , a distinctly sleazy part of town which is probably best avoided day or night. An assorted collection of grimy nightclubs and "streap-tease" joints, this is the street that most of the city's petty thieves, prostitutes and low-life seem to call home. At the junction of 18 Calle and 9 Avenida is the wooden shell of the former train station , badly damaged by a fire in 1996, from which regular passenger services used to leave for Tecun Uman and Puerto Barrios. At the southern end of the old city, separating it from the newer parts of town, the distinctively 1960s architecture of the Centro Civico area marks the boundary between Zonas 1 and 4. Looming over 7 Avenida is the Banco de Guatemala building, bedecked with bold modern murals and stylized glyphs designed by Dagoberto Vasquez - the images recount the history of Guatemala and the conflict between Spanish and Maya. Just to the south you'll find the main office of Inguat and opposite is the lofty landmark Teatro Nacional , also referred to as the Miguel Asturias cultural centre, one of the city's most prominent and unusual structures, completed in 1978. Designed along the lines of an ocean liner, painted blue and white with portholes as windows, it has superb views across the city and hosts regular cultural events in its auditorium and the adjoining open-air space. There's also a little-visited museum dedicated to the Guatemalan military, though it's really only of interest to would-be comandantes .
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