Guatemala’s English-language Magazine JULY 2022
PORTRAITS OF GUATEMALA
revuemag.com Year 31 No. 5
THIS MONTH IN REVUE From the Publishers
On the Cover 3rd Place Judges Vote “El Gran Tamagochy” by Sven Delaye
PHOTO CONTEST
Theme for August, 2022 “Jungles of Guatemala” click for details
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Hypothetical reconstruction of the second Cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala by Guatemalan Artist Ludwing Paniagua, 2019
CATHEDRAL-IN-PROGRESS by Joy Houston ~ photos by Jack Houston
August 14, 1542 - The first shovel of dirt was dug for the Cathedral de los Caballeros. La Antigua has been called a city where time is measured in centuries. “The colonial capital played its historical role for over 230 years and now, more than 400 years after its founding…the inhabitants are still convinced that the site was well chosen in 1542 as a good place to live.” --Verle Lincoln Annis ...page 42
PORTRAIT GALLERY by Thor Janson 20 spectacular photographs by a spectacular photographer ...page 60
Places to go, things to do and fun to be had... Click on title to go to desired page
DINING ANTIGUA DOÑA LUISA XICOTENCATL home cooked meals and fresh bread baked daily CERRO SAN CRISTOBAL organic farm, slow food, garden-to-table restaurant THAI-WOW delicious thai food in a beautiful setting CAMINO REAL ANTIGUA fine dining and weekend breakfast buffet CAFÉ CONDESA farm-to-table since 1993
SERVICES/SHOPPING ANTIGUA ARNOLDS GARAGE engine repair, transmissions, a/c, master mechanic GUATE EXCHANGE quick shipping for your online purchases COMUNITEL internet service where no one else gives it VET PRO veterinary clinic - English, Spanish, French spoken
LAKE ATITLÁN JARDINES DEL LAGO HOTEL you deserve to relax at the lake
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Restaurant Cerro San Cristobal, La Antigua
video courtesy of Mexcal-Rhet
Filadelfia Coffee Tour in Antigua
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from the publishers
P
ortraits, portraits and more portraits grace our pages this month. Also, a look back at the construction of Antigua’s Cathedral by Joy Houston. We do so hope that you have an excellent July, 2022. —Terry & John Kovick Biskovich
revue team Publishers/Editors John & Terry Kovick Biskovich Photography Luis Toribio, César Tián Graphic Designer Hadazul Cruz Contributing Writer Mark D. Walker Webmaster/Social Media JB Systems Luis Juárez, Luis Toribio Publishing Company San Joaquin Producciones, S.A.
1st Place Popular Vote “Cultura y arte en Sololá” Panajachel by Ganesha Maas
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Honorable Mention “Belleza en la simplicidad” Catarina, San Marcos by Viviana Regina De León
1st Place Judges Vote “untitled” by German Velásquez
2nd Place Judges Vote “Mirada de la experiencia” Aguacatán, Huehuetenango by Alex Hernández
“Don Catarino” Santa Catarina Palopó, Sololá by Luis A. Soto S.
2nd Place Popular Vote “Lupita & Tofi” Guatemala City by Febe Avila
“Sonrisa” Tactic, Alta Verapaz by Terencio Tiul Fernández
Fingernails! Santiago Atitlán by Warren Capps
3rd Place Popular Vote “ Corona de Belleza” Panajachel, Sololá by Sara (Manzana) Morales
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“Niñez acorralada entre matices de incertidumbre” Ciudad de Guatemala by Diego Gordillo Quintana
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Cathedral -in-Progress by Joy Houston ~ photos by Jack Houston
Painting by Antonio Ramírez Montúfar.1678. Construction of the Third Cathedral
August 14, 1542. The first shovel of dirt was dug for the Cathedral de los Caballeros.
I
n the same year Mary who would become Queen of Scots was born. So was Akbar who would become the great Mogul emperor to control northern and central India. Ivan who would become the Terrible, the first czar of Russia, was 12 years old. Anne Boleyn had lost her head a few years earlier, and Henry VIII was busy propagating his new church and the kingdom with Catherine. But it’s doubtful there were any fireworks or fanfare in the place chosen to be the third seat of the Kingdom of Spain in Guatemala, now La Antigua. Most of the people were still in mourning. Barely 11 months earlier more than half the population died or disappeared when “in one night came to the ground the work of a quarter of a century,” wrote Carmelo Saenz de Santamaria S.J. in his biography of Francisco Marroquín, the first bishop of Guatemala. It was Marroquín to whom the people had run for help when the terrible storm brought mud and rocks and trees roaring through Almolonga, the previous capital, destroying everything in their path. When it was over, with
a heavy heart and undoubtedly tears, Marroquín picked through the rubble of the church. He salvaged what he could and particularly retrieved the mourning cloths that had hung for his dear friend the governor, Pedro de Alvarado, of whose death in Mexico he had learned just a month before. He would need them for the burials he would carry out, among them Pedro’s wife, Beatriz de la Cueva. Beatriz, after completing the mourning time, had declared herself governess just 40 hours before her death on that ominous night. Now it was Marroquín for whom the people voted to be in charge until Spain named another. What would they do? Where would they go? Marroquín was unwavering: they would rebuild. Soon the new site was decided upon just three miles away but a little further from the mountains, and the new location for the capital was put in the hands of expert designers. Meanwhile, Marroquín held mass at the little church of Santa Lucía and, once free of civic leadership, oversaw construction of the cathedral. Not that it would be grand. With so much
Hypothetical reconstruction of the second Cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala
a by Guatemalan Artist Ludwing Paniagua, 2019
his own pocket. Guatemala was, after all, a somewhat remote place. Unlike other newly conquered territories, it had no mineral wealth nor had His Majesty sacked any rich spoils. The new capital, with all its natural beauty, was basically an agricultural center. Construction was tediously slow and continued for decades. In a moment of optimism, Marroquín wrote the king in 1554, “This cathedral is the loveliest in the Indies.” When he died on Good Friday in 1563, the work was still unfinished, as it was in 1576 when it was inaugurated, although it was undoubtedly in use long before. Francisco Marroquín Painting. Guatemala’s First Bishop
rebuilding, there was great demand for resources. The new cathedral would be built of stone rubble held together with lime mortar. It would be several years before funds came from Spain. But this may have had as much to do with priorities as scarcity. The neighbors themselves had supported cost and labor for construction of the church in Almolonga. Marroquín wrote to the emperor in 1537, “…the rest I have spent [from his own funds] and owe a great part of it.” Marroquín was committed to evangelization, but religion was not then a priority for Spain. He lamented the “great riches extinguished in whirlwinds of works.” As before, he would support the new building from
Each time the earth shook the construction suffered and was patched. “It is unusual that one of the main churches in Spanish America should have such modest construction as late as the 17th century, when other churches in Guatemala already had vaults or domes,” writes Elizabeth Bell (Antigua Guatemala: The City and its Heritage, 2005). After 127 years the new cathedral had been broken so many times that it was necessary to demolish the whole thing and start over. What we see today are the ruins of that second construction. By then not only were the Spanish interested in ecclesiastical building, but it was to some minds excessive. Perhaps they wished to placate the wrath of Divine powers, which they feared caused the repeated earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In 1669 masses and functions of the cathe-
1884 Artistic engraving
dral were moved one block south to the newly inaugurated San Pedro (adjacent to the present facilities of Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro). Reconstruction of the cathedral, however stronger and grander, would be done on the same space as before, a full square block. Its thick walls and low arches would reflect profes-
sional seismic architectural expertise not available in the first construction. The front, with three doors on the intricately sculpted façade facing Plaza Mayor, then the central market, would have a platform raised to the level of the street at the rear. Two side aisles stretched the full length,
Royal Chapel Crypts.
opening to doors at both ends. The Royal Chapel was between the rear doors and behind the main altar, which today carries a stone tablet etched with names of some early royals and nobles whose remains were placed in burial crypts below. Among them are Pedro de Alvarado and his wife Beatriz, his Mexican princess companion Luisa and her daughter Leonor and, heading the list, Bishop Francisco Marroquín. While construction went on, art works were being created for the new cathedral, including a series of paintings of the apostles, which were hung in place for the inauguration in 1680 and which can still be seen today. We can only imagine the grandeur of the baroque cathedral in colonial times. Records show that the altar was embellished with tortoise shell, pearl, bronze and ivory; the bays of 14 chapels held
Intricate plaster patterns adorn pillars and domes throughout the cathedral. Photo by Jack Houston
fine sculpted images. Remnants of remarkable molded plaster adornments of the pillars and domes can still be admired. “The procession of Corpus Christi,” wrote Rafael Vicente Álvarez Polanco (Las Calles de Antigua, 1999) “was of the highest brilliance, with gold and silver, rubies and emeralds…with a company of militia, the carriers wearing colorful insignias and banners and the clergy adorned in rich capes.” Nineteenth century drawings show tall twin bell towers (Hibbits, Estado de Conservación de las Iglesias de Antigua Guatemala, 1968). Although no trace remains of those towers, five of their bells are inventoried in Caroline Long’s Church Bells of Antigua (1999). But the glory of the place would be shortlived. Forces under the earth moved again and again until a major quake in 1773 moved the powers of Spain to order the town abandoned. The capital would be relocated to where it is now, in Guatemala City. Agriculture continued
Aisles of old cathedral show stages of restoration. Photo by Jack Houston
Frescoed remains of columns and arches rest in patio of archbishop’s palace. Photo by Jack Houston
in places safe from further damage by rain or debris. Elizabeth Bell was among them. She later sponsored conservation of the collection of paintings of the apostles, and now, although they hang on pillars too narrow for them, they are at home again in the only functioning part of the cathedral for which they were painted.
Cathedral as you can see it today. Photo by Jack Houston
to thrive, however, and it wasn’t long before the town repopulated. The space of the cathedral entrance and two chapels was refurbished and began serving as the parish church of San José in 1832. Unfortunately, the two front side doors and their access to the side aisles were walled up. According to Elizabeth Bell, “No attempt was made to capture any of the majestic touches of its predecessor.” Luis Luján Muñoz wrote, “Antigua was a symbol of a better past that was impossible to emulate.” (Hibbits)
The cathedral has been in the process of restoration by the National Council for the Protection of La Antigua Guatemala for over 20 years and will be for some time to come. There is still now the opportunity to meander through that sacred site, to come apart and hear the “mystic echoes no longer heard outside” (Polanco), to gaze upward to the open sky, framed by decorated curves of fallen domes, to visit the vacated crypts. Bishop Marroquín had his modest home
La Antigua was named a National Monument in 1944. The major part of the old cathedral still lay in ruins, giving in to all kinds of erosion, insects, birds and vegetation growing in the cracks of its fallen parts, but Mother Nature was not finished. The morning after the earthquake in February 1976, like déjà vu, those who loved the town and its treasures once again scrambled to rescue fallen works of art and shelter them
San José Parish around 1840 by Miguel Alfredo Álvarez Arévalo
Antigua Square Cathedral after the 1976 earthquakes by Infrogmation of New Orleans 1979.
built along the north side of the cathedral, with a door opening to Plaza Mayor. When the second cathedral was finished, it was felt that a more fitting bishop’s palace was needed. And so, 150 years after Marroquín’s death, an elegant, two-story palace with fountains, servants’ quarters and stables was complete. This too has succumbed to the ravages of time, including takeover by a strip of businesses along 4a calle. But fresco designs can still be appreciated on sections of columns and arches shel-
tered in the patio that serves as a laboratory, as well as remains of geometric patterns on walls. La Antigua has been called a city where time is measured in centuries. “The colonial capital played its historical role for over 230 years and now, more than 400 years after its founding… the inhabitants are still convinced that the site was well chosen in 1542 as a good place to live.” (Verle Lincoln Annis, The Architecture of Antigua Guatemala: 1543-1773, 1968).
“Viajando en Tren” Guatemala City by Henry Cukier
“Riqueza en la naturaleza / Nature’s Riches” Magdalena Milpas Altas by Dinhora Martínez
“Natalie, mi Hija” by Daniel Iguardia
untitled. Santa María de Jesús by Wilson Vásquez Orón
“Marchante” Chiantla Huehuetenango by Hugo Rodriguez
Ati’t (abuela / grandma) San Antonio Aguas Calientes Sacatepéquez by Francisco Hernández
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irst seen in 1973, he became a common jungle personage. Like Lord Greystoke, he was suckled by the wild beasts, crowned his head with the iridescent feathers of quetzal, and drank directly from the fountains of origin. Navigator, explorer, biologist, photographer, author, synergetic geometrician, he walked in boustrophedon the four cardinal points, leaving testimony of his path everywhere. —Sensei Manuel Corleto
Portrait GALLERY by Thor Janson (in fond memory)
D
uring his first trip around the world in 1973, Janson visited Guatemala, where he lived for a time with a Kaqchikel Indian family in a dirt-floor hut by the shores of Lake Atitlán. “These humble Mayan people taught me that happiness cannot be bought with money; happiness is a quality of the spirit.” Janson continued around the world, sailing to the most remote islands of Polynesia, working in New Zealand, trekking across Africa and Asia and finally returning to California. “I knew within minutes of stepping on American soil that I would not stay there. It was just too civilized. I guess I had gone native somewhere in the jungles of Mesoamerica. But where would I go? I remembered the happy times I had spent with the Maya in Guatemala and was determined to return.” It was February of 1976 and Janson was working in Chicago to get some traveling money together when the news of the devastating earthquake in Guatemala came over the wire. As soon as he could, he returned to the land of the Maya to assist in the reconstruction.
That fall he met and became friends with Professor Mario Dary, Director of San Carlos University’s School of Biology, who invited him to join the faculty, where Janson instigated a project to study and protect the endangered manatee. Janson’s project led to the establishment of the Chocón-Machacas Manatee Reserve at Río Dulce, where he was to be the park director. In 1982, Janson established his own conservation group, Defensores de la Naturaleza, where he remained as director until 1987. Dissatisfied with the government’s handling of forest conservation, he spearheaded an innovative program to open the way for a private organization to manage wild lands with private-sector funding. His project resulted in the establishment of the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, which is managed by Defensores. Janson was intensely focused on protecting the quetzal and its habitat and was Director of the Cloud Forest Defense Project.
“The Man with a huge coffin representing Jesus” Santiago, Atitlán by Bernard Rancourt
By Daniel Iguardia
“Un niño sigue adelante” Antigua by David A. Dean
“In a portrait, you have room to have a point of view. The image may not be literally what's going on, but it's representative.” —Annie Leibovitz
“El hombre” Panajachel by Kate Andrew
“Smoking Life Away” by Sergio Delattre
“La inocencia de la niñez” Livingston by José Carrillo
“Tan chapines como tú” Avenida de la Reforma by Juan José Rodas
“Sorpresa!” Ciudad de Guatemala by Rosario Rodríguez
“I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.” —Frida Kahlo
3rd Place Judges Vote “El Gran Tamagochy” by Sven Delaye
“Nuestras Raíces” San Agustín Lanquín, Alta Verapaz by Federico Roulet
“Sonrisa Tierna” San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango by Federico Roulet
“Laguna Sagrada / Sacred Lagoon” Laguna de Chicabal by Migue Vásquez García