Guatemala City Culture Venues (Self Guided), Guatemala City

Situated inside the former railway station, Guatemala City Railway Museum is an exciting museum with numerous thrilling exhibitions. The museum provides a lot of information about Guatemala railway history and about each exhibit it displays. Here visitors can see displays of locomotives, diesel and passenger trains, derailments drawings and many other interesting exhibitions. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 4:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4:30pm.

Justo Rufino Barrios is a six-meter monument erected in 1897 by Francisco Durini in honour of Guatemala president Justo Rufino Barrios, who was famous for his liberal reforms and his ideas about a unified Central America. At first the statue was placed opposite the Palacio de la Reforma, but was destroyed during the earthquake in 1918 and moved to Plaza Barrios.

Casa Mima is a house-museum, situated in the historic Guatemala City center. The museum was opened in 1999 and is still a very popular cultural spot for locals and international visitors. This late 1800s building is set up like a functioning house with original furniture, decorations, toys, personal belongings, kitchenware, clothing items and many other interesting objects. Fascinating collections of Chinese and Rococo artwork are also beautifully displayed here. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.

The Guatemala Post Office Building is the general management office for the Guatemalan postal service. Known as the Palacio de Correos in Spanish, it is located in Zone 1 of Guatemala City and is currently home to the Museum of Posts, Telegraphs, and Philately of Guatemala.

Construction on the building began in 1937 and was completed in 1940. It was designed in the Neo-Colonial architectural style, with two buildings linked by an arched pedestrian bridge. That bridge was inspired by the Santa Catalina Arch in Antigua, Guatemala.

Visitors to the museum will see a Postal room with accessories dating to 1932. Items include phones, postcards, and unique stamps, along with a post office motorcycle and bicycle used for distributing mail.

The Telegraphic Room allows visitors to attempt making their telegraphs, while the Philatelic Room is a must for stamp collectors. This room offers an assortment of unique stamps and shows items used over the history of stamp collecting.

The building was declared a National Monument in 1981.

The National History Museum is a French Neo-Renaissance-style building. It is home to a museum with exhibits that focus on the history of Guatemala. It specifically provides insight into the ethnic groups of the region.

The museum was founded in 1976. It was originally located in the National Library, then moved to the National Palace, and was temporarily held in the house of Doctor Robles on Sixth Avenue. It found its current home, in the former building of the Real Property Registry, in 1984.

The building, constructed in 1896, was carefully secured against damage to preserve valuable documents. The walls were reinforced with iron, the ceilings were made with metal mesh, and the staircases were built from marble. A minimal amount of wood was used in the building to protect it against fires.

It was one of the few buildings, that was not destroyed during the earthquake of 1917. However, it was severely damaged. The earthquake of 1976 damaged about 50 percent of the building, which caused the Real Property Registry to vacate. It was decided to demolish the building and turn the land into a parking lot. However, champions of historic buildings led the fight to have it declared, an important national landmark.

The building was restored in 1984 to be used as the National History Museum. It also provides concerts and film screenings; and hosts a library.