The little museum up in the Antigua hills

There is a place. Up in the hills. Overlooking Antigua Guatemala. Go there. And be surprised by art, haute cuisine and action sports. These things don’t go together? Wait until you experience Santo Domingo del Cerro.

There is some great art down in the valley. In the Spanish cultural centre of Antigua for example. But Santo Domingo… is a world of its own.
Basically it is an extension of an upmarket hotel in the city itself. They somehow came to have a restaurant overlooking Antigua, which somehow also got several museums. That is what Santo Domingo is.

Free for all

The good news: eating at the restaurant (Tenedor del Cerro) is not compulsory to get in. The minivan shuttles at the eastern edge of the city center (near the hotel Santo Domingo) are free for all. The even better news: the museums are free as well!

But the best news actually is that the museums are quirky and very good as well. Once the minivans have dropped you off, after a five minute ride, you will enter through the main corridor. If you walk that all the way to the end, you will inevitably hit upon the restaurant. But on your left side are museums. And on the right side, inside the garden, is another one. And did I mention the green areas are basically one big sculpture garden?

Welcoming sculpture at Santo Domingo del Cerro near Antigua

Insect sculpture at Santo Domingo del Cerro near Antigua

Parrot sculpture in Santo Domingo del Cerro near Antigua

Alligator sculpture in Santo Domingo del Cerro near Antigua

Efrain Recinos

There is actually quite a lot to discover. The main room on the left side has temporary exhibitions, at the time of visit a photography exhibition about discovering the El Peten / El Mirador ruins in the Guatemalan jungle.
Speaking of photography, in the modern pavillion near the restaurant are photo exhibitions as well. The pavillion was designed by a Guatemalan architect Efrain Recinos who made some visionary stuff (see some models in the pictures below). Most of it was unfortunately unrealized.

Sculptural garden

But there is much more to see. Amongst them a small Pope John Paul II museum, commemorating his visit to Guatemala in 2002. There is a museum dedicated to Miguel Asturias, the famous writer.

And then there is the sculptural garden. If you wonder about the statue in the garden, it is Efrain Recinos. The same guy as the architect? Yeah, turns out he was a crazy multi-talented artist. He was better known as Guatemala’s Picasso, an incredibly versatile artist (who for some strange reason also made charcoal drawings of Mussolini and Hitler, both on display in the pavillion…).

Recinos created and commissioned most of the sculptures in the gardens. The blue murals show some common themes of him (communication, and the Guatemalitas (small women from Guatemala)). And hey, that destroyed / crashed Volkswagen Beetle? A classic Recinos as well 🙂

Efrain Recinos designs for modern housing

Guatemaltitas murals from Efrain Recinos

Steel sculpture at Santo Domingo del Cerro near Antigua

Good to know

the hotel is located on 3a Calle Oriente, on the eastern edge of the centre
Minivan shuttles leave from here, free for all, usually every fifteen minutes
On the site is not only a restaurant, but also a wedding chapel, a playground, and ziplining
Official site
background info