The City
There aren't many things to do or see in Quetzaltenango, but if you have an hour or two to spare then it's worth wandering through the streets, soaking up the atmosphere and taking in the museum in the Casa de la Cultura. The hub of the place is the central plaza, officially known as the Parque Centro America , whose mass of mock-Greek columns and imposing banks exude an atmosphere of dignified calm - there's none of the buzz of business that you'd expect, except on the first Sunday of the month when the plaza hosts a good artesanias market with blankets, basketry and piles of tipica weavings for sale. The northern end of the plaza is dominated by the grand old Banco del Occidente , complete with sculptured flaming torches. On the west side is Bancafe and the impressive but crumbling Pasaje Enriquez , planned as a sparkling arcade of upmarket shops but left derelict for many years, though it has now been partially revived. Inside you'll find the Salon Tecun Bar , the hippest place in town, and a good place for meeting other travellers. At the bottom end of the plaza, next to the tourist office, is the Casa de la Cultura (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 2-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm; US$1), the city's most blatant impersonation of a Greek temple, with a bold grey frontage. The main part of the building is given over to an odd mixture of local exhibits. On the ground floor, to the left-hand side, you'll find a display of assorted documents, photographs and pistols from the liberal revolution and the State of Los Altos, along with sports trophies and a room dedicated to the marimba. Upstairs there are some modest Maya artefacts, historic photographs and a bizarre natural history room. Amongst the dusty displays of stuffed bats, pickled snakes and animal skins are the macabre remains of assorted freaks of nature, including a sheep born with eight legs and a four-horned goat. Along the other side of the plaza is the Cathedral , with the new cement version set behind the spectacular crumbling front of the original. There's another piece of classical grandeur, the Municipalidad (Town Hall), a little further up. Take a look inside at the courtyard, which has a neat little garden set out around a single palm tree. Back in the centre of the plaza are rows and circles of redundant columns, a few flowerbeds, and a monument to Rufino Barrios, president of Guatemala from 1873 to 1885. Away from the plaza, the city spreads out, a mixture of the old and new. The commercial heart is 14 Avenida, complete with pizza restaurants and neon signs. At the top of 14 Avenida, at the junction with 1 Calle, stands the restored Teatro Municipal , another spectacular Neoclassical edifice. Further afield, the city's role as a regional centre of trade is more in evidence. Out in Zona 3 is the Mercado La Democracia , a vast covered complex with stalls spilling out onto the streets. There's another Greek-style structure right out on the edge of town, the Minerva Temple , built to honour President Barrios's enthusiasm for education and making no pretence at serving any practical purpose. Beside the temple is the fairly miserable zoo (Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; free) and a children's playground. Below the temple are the sprawling market and Minerva Bus Terminal , and it's here that you can really sense the city's role as the centre of the western highlands, with indigena traders from all over the area doing business.
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