La Recoleccion (ruins), Antigua

The Ruins of La Recolección are among the largest and most dramatic remnants of Antigua Guatemala’s colonial past. The Recollect friars, a reformed branch of the Franciscan Order, arrived in the city during the 1680s, but permission to build their monastery was not granted until 1701. Construction continued for about fourteen years, producing an extensive complex with a grand Baroque church, cloisters, library, infirmary, gardens, and living quarters. The monastery was largely reduced to ruins by the Santa Marta earthquakes of 1773.

Huge sections of collapsed roof and masonry remain piled inside the former church, surrounded by fractured columns, broken arches, roofless chambers, and sections of the cloisters. The jaw-dropping damage can be witnessed in quite a straightforward manner. Make your way through the entry portal and up a staircase, which will give you a view of the house-sized chunks of stone roof lying scattered precisely where they crashed to the floor during the 1773 earthquake.

For a sense of the complex's original elegance, step past the nave into the adjacent cloister courtyard, where you can walk along the perimeter corridor to admire the remaining stucco arcades and vaulted passageways that once housed the Recollect friars.

La Recoleccion's spacious grounds also make it suitable for families, although children should be supervised around the uneven masonry. Now protected as a national monument and surrounded by open parkland, the site is especially rewarding for history enthusiasts and photographers.