GUATEMALA - HONDURAS - BELIZE |
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1. Sacatepéquez
2. Guatemala
3. Chimaltenango
4. Sololá
5. Totonicapan
6. Quetzaltenango
7. San Marcos
8. Retalhuleu
9. Suchitepéquez
10. Escuintla
11. Santa Rosa
12. Jutiapa
13. Jalapa
14. Chiquimula
15. Zacapa
16. El Progreso
17. Baja Verapaz
18. Quiché
19. Huehuetenango
20. Alta Verapaz
21. Izabal
22. Petén |
| Guatemala represents the heart of the Maya culture in Central America. The most important
archaeological sites of this ancient civilization are found in Guatemala. |
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Antigua was founded in 1543 and it is one of the most ancient American cities. The city
is located at over 1500 mt of altitude and it is situated among three volcanos: Agua, Fuego,
Acatenango.
In the photo the Church of St. Francis. |
| Antigue a été la capitale du Guatémala jusqu'au 1773, dans la même année elle fut détruite par un tremblement de terre.La ville a été déclarée patrimoine mondial de l'humanité en 1979 par l'UNESCO. |
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The city of Chimaltenango is on the Interamerican a few kilometers from Antigua.
Chimaltenango was already an ancient Cakchiquel Maya city when the Conquistadores arrived in 1526.
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Iximché, founded in the XV century, was the ancient Cakchiquel Maya capital. |
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The Atitlán Lake is an immense basin of water surrounded by four volcanos: Volcan Saint
Clara, Volcan San Pedro, Volcan Atitlán and Volcan Tolimán.
The Mayas revered its waters and today the lake is still considered a sacred place.
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The Maya city of Copan fell in decline and was abandoned after the death of the last king in
the 820. The luxuriant vegetation has taken therefore the upper hand and entirely covered the
ruins of the city that has remained hidden until 1839, when Lord John Lloyd Stephens casually
discovered a graven stone.
Investigating in the surrounding zone, they came to the light a pyramid, some altars and other
important finds. Today, thanks to the archaeological excavations, it has been discovered that
Copan was a rich and flourishing city that belonged to the ancient Maya civilization, that
extended in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.
The city is divided in the 4 zones: the acropolis, the great plaza, the hieroglyphic stairway
and the space destined to the game of pelota. About 2 kms away was the residential area in which common
people lived and were buried. |
In Copan has been found the most complete text about the Maya civilization, this text
has allowed to reconstruct the history of the city and of the most important kings
that ruled it.
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Tikal was founded about 2500 years ago and it was abandoned, for still unknown reasons, around 1000 years ago.
In the picture the Pyramid of the Great Jaguar. |
The most spectacular thing about Tikal are the tall constructions as tall as 44 meters.
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The city was built in the heart of the rain forest. From the summit
of the Pyramid of the Great Jaguar the city seems to be literally immersed in a green ocean. |
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El Rosario is a small town on the Rio Hondo. |
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This site is found in the Sayaxche, on the shores of the river la Pasión.
The Steles of Ceibal are the most beautiful and better preserved sculptures of the whole Classical period.
The steles are well preserved thanks to the hardness of the stone used that has withstood very well
the erosion of the rain and the luxuriant vegetation.
The city should have been abandoned around the year 889, the last date found in the inscriptions. |
The Coral Barrier Reef of Belize, 290 Km long, is the second world’s largest after the
Australian Great Barrier Reef.
Inside the barrier reef water depth is very low, normally no more than 4 or 5 meters, and inside
this barrier there are dozens of islands, called cayes. The largest of these islands are
Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. |
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Ambergris Caye is the largest island in Belize.
There is only one city on the island: San Pedro, there are anyway several resorts mostly
concentrated in the southern part of the island.
The island lies about a kilometre away from the barrier reef. |
Inside and outside the barrier reef sealife is plentiful.
The most interesting scuba diving sites are outside the barrier reef. |
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The barrier reef in front of Placencia is much more distant in comparison to the cayes.
The ocean, here also very rich in sealife, offers marvellous backdrops inside and outside of the barrier reef. |
| The house we rented in Placencia. |
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Departure from the port of Placencia.
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Picture taken one hour later a few miles off the Placencia’s coast
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