Central Guatemala City, Civic Center

- 6A Avenida (south part), Plaza Municipal, Plaza Italia, Plaza Republica, Palacio de Justicia, Banco de Guatemala, Ministerio de Finanzas Públicas

In Centro Civico (Civic Center), the south part of central Guatemala City, that is very modern in its character, you find many government buildings, most of them built in the 60s. Plaza Municipal is the largest square, where you find a large fountain with a beautiful sculpture inside, featuring hands that hold a dove. You also find the white and grey 60s highrise buildings, many of them houses government facilities aroudn Plaza Municipal; Banco de Guatemala, a brutalist highrise from 1945 with Mayan inscriptions on the sides, Ministerio de Finanzas Públicas (MINFIN, Ministry of Finance, 22 floors, built 1974), Palacio de Justicia (Palace of Justice) that consist of a lowrise and a highrise building.

Next to Plaza Municipal is Plaza Italia, where you find a copy of the Roma Lupa sculpture from Rome, as well as Roman columns. The green market building Mercato La Placita and the Transmeto bus station is next to it. Plaza Republica is another square with a fountain in the middle. Inside the fountain there is a sculpture of 3 men holidng an obelisque. Here you also find the tall glass buildings of Centro Financiero from 1978.

The city's main thouroughfare, 6A Avenida passes all these squares, as well as Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias, the impressive futuristic cultural center with odd shapes, that lies on a hill and includes the national theater. When 6A Avenida reaches the old town (Historic Downtown), it transforms into a shopping street that is at times a pedestrian street. Along the avenue you find several markets, residential buildings, office buildings, fountains and shopping malls.