The effects on Antigua of the earthquake of the late 18th century
Commonly referred to as just Antigua (or La Antigua), the city's streets are mostly laid out in a rectangular grid aligned with the compass, with the Parque Central as an origin point. North-south roads are avenidas or avenues, numbered from 1st to 8th from east to west. The avenidas are further divided into sur (south) and norte (north). East-west roads are calles or streets, numbered from 1st to 9th from north to south. The calles are further divided into oriente (east) and poniente (west). The street intersection at the north-east corner of the Palace of the Captains-General, i.e. at the south-east corner of Parque Central, is the origin of this division. Avenidas are sur south of 5a Calle, and norte north of it. Calles are oriente east of 4a avenida, and poniente west of it.
Some roads have names that don't follow the avenida/calle numbering scheme, and some roads away from the center don't follow the grid. Most corners do not have signs showing the name of either the street you are on or the one you just came up to. All are cobblestoned and sidewalks are generally not very good.
Addresses are numbered sequentially outwards from the origin point. Even-numbered addresses are on one side of the street and odd numbers are on the other. Street addresses are written with the street or avenue number first, followed by the letter "a" (because 1a signifies "primera", 2a is short for "segunda", 3a for "tercera", etc); then "av." (for avenida) or "Cle" (for calle), then "ote" (oriente, east), "pte" (poniente, west), "sur" (south), or "nte" (norte, north); then the street address number. For instance:
"5a av. nte #5" is address #5 on 5th Avenue North. The small number shows it is just a little north of the north-south divider, 5a calle.
"3a calle ote #28" is address #28 on 3rd Street East. The relatively large number shows it is some ways east of the east-west divider, 4a Avenida.
It's helpful to memorise that the north and south sides of Parque Central are 4a and 5a calles, and the west and east sides are 5a and 4a avenidas respectively. Parque Central is the reference point for east, west, north and south in street addresses. "5a av. nte #5" is north of Parque Central. "5a ave. sur #5" is south of Parque Central. Essentially, if you understand which way is north of Parque Central, you can find anything in the city.
Inguat Tourist Office, 2a Calle Oriente #11 (between Avenidas 3a and 2a), ☎ 7832-3782 (). M-F 8AM-5PM, Sa Su 9AM-5PM. �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Antigua Guatemala
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Antigua Guatemala - updated Apr 2024
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