The Colors of Antigua

Houses are built right up to the roadside and are painted in bright colors.  The real beauty of the house lies in an inner garden courtyard, often with a fountian, a variety of flowers and vines, and perhaps caged songbirds.

Some of the beauty does make it to the street however.

For the Easter season, especially Semana Santa (Holy Week), the churches and eventually even the streets themselves are decorated with lush colorful "carpets."  The above is made of flowers and vegetables.  Below, on the floor before the Jesus display, is a design made of colored sawdust.  During Semana Santa these intricate designs will be laid out on the streets each morning and processions will stir them into a cluttered rainbow.  Then they will be reconstructed for the following morning.

This massive fountain adorns the inner courtyard of a convent.