The perfect cone
Over the city.
amslerPIX — CC BY 2.0 · Chad Davis — CC BY 2.0 · amslerPIX — CC BY 4.0 · Bruno Rijsman — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bruno Rijsman — CC BY-SA 2.0
Agua is a dormant volcano with a near-perfect cone that towers over the city of Antigua Guatemala. Its blue-grey summit is often ringed with cloud, coffee grows on its green lower slopes, and the old city's red roofs and white churches spread at its foot. The volcano rises to 3,760 m, more than 3,500 m above the Pacific coastal plain to the south and 2,000 m above the highlands to the north. It stands 5 to 10 km from Antigua. The Kaqchikel people called it Hunapú, «place of flowers». It became the «Volcano of Water» after a mudflow from it in 1541 destroyed Guatemala's first capital, which was then moved to Antigua; facing it stands Volcán de Fuego, the «volcano of fire». You see it from almost every street and square in Antigua, best early in the morning before the cloud covers it. Some visitors climb it with a guide on a long trek to the summit. The summit is about 10 km in a straight line south of Antigua. Only climb with a known local guide, start very early and bring warm clothes for the top.
Over the city.
Before the cloud.
On the slopes.
Sacatepéquez and Escuintla departments, south of Antigua Guatemala
Only with a known local guide.
Early morning.