Convento la Recoleccion — Attraction in Sacatepéquez

La Recoleccion is an interesting and lesser-visited ruins site to explore, located on the outskirts of Antigua, near the local market, with amazing photo opportunities.

Very little of this former church remains standing and it is almost completely in ruins, due to severe destruction from earthquakes that shook Antigua in the late 1700's. Aside from the stone staircase at the front of the church, the crumbling tall stone walls are the only part of the church which is still intact and standing. Grasses and plants were growing through cracks in the stones. The grounds were beautifully maintained and there was a manicured grassy area with some large shade trees in front of the church, where locals were relaxing and having picnics. Once you walk up the stairs to enter the church, you will see massive chunks of stone and rubble laying everywhere inside the walls. There were lots of locals there during my Sunday afternoon visit and children were running around and playing hide and seek among the ruins and I encountered some local couples kissing and love-making in some of the nooks and crannies of the ruins. Nothing has been to restore this structure and it has probably looked the same since it was destroyed. It was mind-blowing for me to imagine an earthquake so big that it would cause this level of destruction to such a large church and it was really a testament to the incredible power that nature has over humans. But this former church was so beautiful in its crumbling state.

I loved exploring the ruins and grounds of this church and climbing around on the large stones. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful. It was a great place to just walk around and the photo opportunities of this structure were amazing. These were definitely one of the most fascinating and impressive church ruins that I visited in Antigua.

Apparently there is a Q40 entrance fee, however nobody was manning the ticket booth during my visit so I just walked in and was able to enjoy these beautiful ruins for free.

La Recoleccion is definitely worth a visit in Antigua! Don't...

Although it is a historical venue,it’s hard to understand how in the world with all the money that the collect from tourists-especially foreigners-the facilities are filled with trash,the gardens have no maintenance,have no sprinklers system,the patios inside are completely abandoned and rundown. It just drew my attention that behind a bars gate there was a pizza box-it supposed that's a place nobody can enter-wich makes me conclude that the authorities in charge of the preservation and adornment of the site are the one that promote,encourage endorse clutter and filthiness all over the premises. It’s a pity,a place with a huge potential,a magical city in this state of...

I see some reviewers calling this place incredible and giving it 5 stars. That's interesting to me. If this is incredible then what would they say about St. Peter's in Rome or the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul? I also don't think the place deserves a 1-star rating. It is impressive in its sheer size and the ruins of the church are quite photogenic. Having said that I'm not sure if its worth the 40 Q admission price. There are no plaques or explanations of any kind and there are no facilities such as WC's and the gardens look a bit ill-maintained. No restoration work being done here neither, I'd say there are other, better...