La Recoleccion (ruins), Antigua

Behind the San Jerónimo Convent, a cobbled path leads to the even larger, and more chaotic, ruin of La Recolección, where the middle of the church is piled high with huge chunks of the roof and walls. Fan of history and photography should take serious note, but the place is also great for a picnic on the grass or letting the kids run around, climb ruins and explore.

Though the friars of the Recollects first arrived here and asked for permission to build in the 1680s, it was not until 1701 that they were allowed to start their monastery, and a further fourteen years before the cloisters, library, and infirmary were finished. Only a few months after completion, the architectural complex was brought to the ground by a huge earthquake. It suffered again in the 1751 earthquakes and more so in the devastating Santa Marta earthquakes of 1773.

Today the ruins are surrounded by parkland; they are a protected national monument with public access to the cloisters, albeit for a small charge. If you have some extra money, it is worth witnessing another testament to the incredible power that nature has over humans.