City overview
Guatemala packs volcanoes, Maya cities and colonial streets into a country you can cross in a day. Antigua's cobbled centre sits beneath three volcanoes, Lake Atitlan fills a crater ringed by Maya villages, and Tikal's temples rise out of the Peten rainforest. The Jewish community numbers under a thousand people, almost all of them in Guatemala City, where an Orthodox congregation and a Sephardi society have both been established for a century. Three Chabad houses serve travellers - one in the capital, one in Antigua and one on the shore of Lake Atitlan - and each of them cooks. Kosher food, Shabbos meals and a minyan are all reachable on the standard Guatemala route.
Mercado de Chichicastenango
Antigua
The Thursday and Sunday market at Chichicastenango is the largest in Central America, filling the whole town with textiles, masks, produce and ritual goods.
Time needed
Half a day
Hours
Thursday and Sunday, from early morning to mid-afternoon
Tips
Go early - by noon the tour groups arrive and the good textiles have gone. The Santo Tomás church steps, where Maya ritual and Catholic practice run side by side, are the heart of the town; ask before photographing anyone.
Phone
4518 7726Website
https://www.sicultura.gob.gt/directory-directorio_c/listing/plaza-central-de-chichicastenango/Neighborhood
Chichicastenango, Quiché
Activity providers
Kosher map of Antigua
Pick a place on the map or search an address or hotel to see what is kosher around it.