Antigua, originally known as Santiago de los Caballeros, was founded in 1524, during the Spanish conquest of the previously Mayan-occupied land.  It was named the Spanish colonial capital city of the Capitanía General de Guatemala, or the Kingdom of Guatemala.  It was destroyed by fires later that year, during the uprising of the indigenous populations. It was re-established in 1527, and destroyed once more in 1541, when Volcan de Agua erupted, and buried the city.  Antigua’s unfortunate position along the Motagua and Chixoy-Polochic fault lines, makes it prone to earthquakes, the most devastating of which occurring in 1717, 1773, 1917, and 1976.
Most of the architecture was destroyed in 1717 Guatemala earthquake, and again in Santa Marta earthquakes in 1773.  In 1774, the Spanish authorities abandoned Santiago de los Caballeros, and moved the capital to Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción (present day Guatemala City).  
On August 4, 1786, “ruined Guatemala” or “old city” was declared a town by royal decree, and in 1788, the mayor of Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, requested authorisation to return to Antigua.  By 1799, two ordinary mayors and a trustee were appointed. The town was no longer the splendid city that it was, but the new city council managed to make Antigua Guatemala resurface during the 19th century.  After Guatemala declared its independence from Spain in1821, Antigua recovered it’s title as a city.