Palacio Nacional de la Cultura — Attraction in Guatemala City

The National Palace of Culture today is part museum and part government office. The entry fee to the museum is Q40 per person. Tourists are only allowed to enter as part of tours and times for these tours are preset where groups can only enter at certain times because part of the building has offices of the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes or Ministry of Culture and Sport. That is why if tourists want to go inside they need to know the times of the tours and be there 15-20 minutes early. The interior of the place has 350 rooms with ornate decorations; yet only few of them are available as part of the museum/ tour. The building is designed to have a large beautiful courtyard. Another unusual feature is the inclusion of traffic lights throughout the building to signal when the president was in the building and direct the traffic. The color was chosen because it was the favorite color of the President Jorge Ubico’s wife. The building also has a number of structural designs highlighting the number 5 which is the favorite number of the president, i.e., five windows in a row, five fountain faucets. The architectural styles of the Palace are Roman, Greek, Spanish, Arabic and French. The halls have a few large frescos reflecting various historic events. The tour takes about an hour and it is...

During our visit to Guatemala City, my partner and I visited the National Palace of Culture on April 23, 2025. It was originally the National Palace of the Republic of Guatemala. It is an emblematic building for the Guatemalan people. The National Palace of Culture of Guatemala, also known as the "Guacamolón" or "Green Palace," offers guided tours led by specialized guides. Our guide was very informative and knowledgeable about the history of the Palace. Tours are available in Spanish, English, and German, and are free for Guatemalans, while admission costs Q40 for foreigners. It was built from 1939 to 1943 on the instructions of General Jorge Ubico Castañeda, who governed the country from 1931 to 1944. It served as the seat of government. It is strongly influenced by a variety of architectural styles. The National Palace of Culture is the seat of the President of Guatemala and houses a museum. The building has 340 rooms, 780 doors, 386 windows, 55 stained-glass windows, 1,000 balconies, and 9 elevators. Guided tours allow you to explore the palace's history and architecture, including murals such as " El Choque." Visiting hours are Monday through Friday: 9:30 – 10:00 – 11:00 – 12:00 2:00 – 3:00 – 4:00 PM. It's well...

The staff is very helpful and the palace is very nice. It's symmetric in design with two sets of stairs, murals and so on. The central part of the palace is glorious with one set of paintings on one side (pre colonial) and the second set on the other (colonial) with a majestic chandelier in the middle with amazing acoustics.

Only guided tours are allowed and they run on every hour (I think). Some days they don't have English tours at all, same as the day we visited. But the guide was very helpful and still let us be part of the group. We were able to use Google translate in transcription mode and follow along without any issues. Foreigners need to carry the passport as well.

On the outside, there's a big park with hundreds of pigeons who you can feed by purchasing small packs of their food (2-5 GTQ per packet). It's amazing to see how the pigeons flock around you once you start throwing food around you. Probably one of the best parts...