Palacio de los Capitanes

The Palacio de los Capitanes stretches along the entire south side of the Plaza Mayor, defined by a massive double row of thick stone arches. This served as the headquarters for the Spanish colonial government, housing the Captain General and the royal treasury for the kingdom of Guatemala. In seventeen seventy-three, earthquakes cracked the structure so severely that the capital was ordered to move to a new valley. The building remained an abandoned, roofless ruin for over a century until restoration efforts began.