Archive for 'architecture'
A Maya suspension bridge?
A fellow named James O’Kon claims that the Maya built the longest bridge span in the ancient world. His theory is based on computer reconstructions derived from a 12-foot high and 35-foot diameter rock formation in the Usamacinta River near the site of Yaxchilan, which flourished between 500 and 700. A similar second structure was [...]
Posted: May 5th, 2008 under archaeology, architecture.
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Photo Wednesday
This image of the National Palace and downtown Guatemala City at night is from Oscar Mota’s photostream. .
Posted: April 30th, 2008 under architecture.
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Maya symbology: jaguar
According to joiseyshowaa, from whose photoset this image of an architectural element at the Maya site of Lamanai in western Belize is is taken, the decorative pattern represents a jaguar. The Maya admired the jaguar, whose habitat is tropical jungles, for his fearsome appearance and roar, and his stealth and prowess as a hunter and [...]
Posted: February 28th, 2008 under architecture, beliefs, symbology.
Comments: 1
Sites we like: La Antigua Daily Photo
You can hardly go wrong with Antigua, but Rudy GirĂ³n goes the extra mile. Every day he posts a new photo from the city, along with some pretty interesting commentary. Some of his favorite topics are food, architecture, and signage, but really nothing is out of bounds. Well worth checking out (click iamge below).
Posted: October 17th, 2007 under architecture, art, food, highlands, towns.
Comments: 1
San Jose El Viejo, Antigua, Guatemala
This magnificent ruin is San Jose El Viejo in Antiguaga, Guatemala. In some ways it is the quintessence of the baroque, rather Moorish impulse in Antigua architecture.
Posted: October 10th, 2007 under architecture.
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Mudejar architecture in La Antigua, Guatemala
Antigua’s distinctive architecture is not all in a single style, yet a certain spirit seems somehow common to each of the examples. Elaborate facades such as that of La Merced (shown) have been called churrigueresque (a term indicating elaborate symmetrical ornamentation). Other writers have called Antigua’s architecture hispano-indigena. But S.D. Markman, in his excellent Colonial [...]
Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under architecture, highlands.
Comments: 1
View of temple 1, Tikal, from east plaza
This is a watercolor I did some years ago.
Posted: September 28th, 2007 under architecture, art, natural world, ruins.
Comments: 1
The fountain at La Merced, Antigua, Guatemala
The church of La Merced is one of the most distinctive in Antigua. Its history is strongly marked by earthquakes. Originally built in the mid-sixteenth century, it was destroyed and rebuilt several times until assuming more or less its present shape in the eighteenth century. Perhaps its most striking feature, its churrigueresque facade, was added [...]
Posted: August 16th, 2007 under architecture, highlands, history.
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Antigua Door Knockers
Tigre fe54 has a nice set of door knocker photos from Antigua, Guatemala, at his flickr site. Clickable thumbnails appear below, via the Crossroads plugin.
Posted: July 31st, 2007 under architecture, art, highlands.
Comments: 1
Maya Architecture and the Golden Mean
Mathematicians define the golden section as a relation in which the smaller unit is to te larger unit as the larger is to the sum. In other words, a:b = b:(a+b). The name for this relation is phi. Its numeric value is 1.618034. Phi is an interesting number. If you add 1 to it you [...]
Posted: May 20th, 2007 under architecture, copan, mathematics.
Comments: 4


