Yes, you can go inside San Agustín: the ruined Augustinian church and convent reopened as the Museo San Agustín in August 2024, and the museum’s directory listing gives Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 15:00, with entry from Q.5.00 for Guatemalans to Q.40.00 for foreign visitors.
In short: Look for the ruins at 7a. Avenida and 5a. Calle Poniente, about two blocks from Parque Central. The museum shows archaeological finds, including a room on pre-Hispanic Maya culture, inside walls that survived the 1773 and 1917 earthquakes. Its listed closing time (15:00) is earlier than the one reported at the opening (17:00), so call 7873-4646 if you plan to arrive after lunch. San Agustín is not on CNPAG’s list of open monuments, so the general monument timetable on our Antigua ruins fees page does not apply to it.
Visiting the museum: hours, fees, services
The AMG-ICOM Guatemala directory, the museum association’s listing, is the most complete visitor record for Museo San Agustín. It is undated; the figures below were read on 10 November 2026, so call ahead.
| As printed by AMG-ICOM | Guatemala.com, 28 August 2024 (secondary) | |
|---|---|---|
| Days and hours | Martes a domingo de 9:00 - 15:00 hrs | Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Nationals | Q.5.00 | Q5.00 |
| Central Americans | Q.15.00 | Q15.00 |
| Foreign students | Q.20.00 | Q20.00 |
| Foreigners | Q.40.00 | Q40.00 |
| Phone | 7873-4646 | not given |
| Address | 7a Avenida Norte y 5a Calle Poniente #1 | 5ª. calle Poniente y 7ª. avenida Sur |
The two sources agree on the days and the four prices and differ on the closing time. AMG-ICOM lists audio guides, labels with QR codes, guided visits and sales of books and publications, and access for wheelchair users.
Where exactly it is
The published addresses do not match word for word. The Ministry of Culture’s SIC entry places the complex between 7a. Avenida Sur and 5a. Calle Poniente in its description, and its contact field reads 7a. Avenida Sur, between 4a. and 5a. Calle. Guatemala.com uses 5ª. calle Poniente and 7ª. avenida Sur and puts it two blocks from Parque Central. AMG-ICOM prints 7a Avenida Norte and 5a Calle Poniente #1. Ask for the corner of 7a Avenida and 5a Calle Poniente and confirm the entrance by phone if you are being dropped off.
CNPAG’s role
CNPAG’s undated services page lists six monuments open to tourists (Capuchinas, Santa Clara, San Jerónimo, La Recolección, Santa Teresa de Jesús and the Holy Week museum); San Agustín is not among them. CNPAG is nonetheless the council behind the site’s restoration: its restoration department lists the Monumento de San Agustín among its projects, and its project file describes a Restauración del Templo de San Agustín run by CNPAG, with its execution period listed as 2014-2022; the file does not say whether the work was finished. The museum’s directory phone, 7873-4646, is the number CNPAG publishes as its switchboard, PBX (502) 78734646, and the photos in Guatemala.com’s opening report are credited to CNPAG.
The museum and how it opened
CONADI expected an earlier opening. In a bulletin dated 20 March 2023, CONADI, the national council for people with disabilities, said the Museo San Agustín was scheduled to open in July as the pilot of a plan to make Antigua’s museums accessible, with stucco work, ceramics, stone tools and obsidian on show. Guatemala.com, in a report updated 28 August 2024, says the museum was inaugurated on 22 August in the ruins of the old convent, with an archaeology exhibition titled Fragmentos del pasado, a room on pre-Hispanic Maya culture and works by Antonio Ramírez Montúfar. It describes the church as having been closed and in ruins for many years before it opened to the public.
CNPAG’s project file explains what the restoration was meant to leave behind: once finished in 2022, the site would display objects recovered in its archaeology section’s excavations, plus contemplation areas such as the base of a mill and human remains, with rest areas and walkways through the whole monument. The same file had described the church as severely deteriorated and at risk of collapse, and set short-term goals of restructuring the barrel vault, the vault over the main altar and the north and south walls, tied together with a crown beam.
The Augustinians in Santiago
SIC, citing the researcher Verle Annis and his book La Arquitectura de La Antigua Guatemala (1543-1773), gives the order’s slow start in the city:
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1610 | The first Augustinian friar arrives from Mexico and returns there the same year to seek permission for a convent | SIC |
| 1611 | Back in the city, his new request is refused by the mayor, who considered a fifth convent unnecessary | SIC |
| 1615 | A prior arrives from Mexico with ten religious and settles in a property two blocks west of the Palacio de los Capitanes | CNPAG |
| 1637 | Juan Pascual, described by CNPAG as a free mulatto architect, presents the plans; the city council grants the building permit | SIC, CNPAG |
| 28 January 1657 | Construction of the church and convent begins, backed by a wealthy citizen | SIC |
| 1717 | Earthquakes destroy the church completely; a new building is finished in 1728 | CNPAG |
| 1751 | Earthquakes cause considerable damage | SIC |
| 1773 | Earthquakes leave the complex almost totally destroyed | SIC |
| 1917 | The dome over the main altar collapses in the earthquake (CNPAG: in December) | SIC, CNPAG |
| 1938 | The ruins are used as a carpentry shop and an oxen corral | SIC |
| 1944 | Antigua is declared a National Monument; the site is vacated and preserved | SIC |
| 1974-1975, 2008-2009 | CNPAG drawings, consolidation, archaeology and maintenance work | CNPAG |
Sources read 10 November 2026.
What still stands
SIC describes a church façade once decorated with five statues, with a small fountain in the forecourt that has since disappeared. Inside the convent there was a two-level arcade, and the gardens and orchards ran west as far as today’s Alameda Santa Lucía. In its heyday, SIC adds, the convent held fine altars and paintings by Antonio de Montúfar. After the 1917 collapse only the walls remained standing, and despite the 1976 earthquake the two façades still survive. What the visitor sees today, in SIC’s words, are arcades, stone walls and remains of the old church.
For a neighbouring convent that CNPAG does open to tourists, see Santa Teresa de Jesús; for another Antigua museum, see the MUNAG national art museum, and for more ideas, things to do in Antigua.
Sources
- SIC, Ministry of Culture: Iglesia y Convento San Agustín, history, surviving structure, address; read 10 November 2026.
- AMG-ICOM Guatemala: Museo San Agustín, undated museum directory: hours, fees, services, phone; read 10 November 2026.
- CNPAG: Proyectos, Restauración del Templo de San Agustín, 2014-2022; read 10 November 2026.
- CNPAG: Departamento de Restauración, restoration project list; read 10 November 2026.
- CNPAG: Servicios, undated list of monuments open to tourists; read 10 November 2026.
- CNPAG: Contacto, switchboard number; read 10 November 2026.
- CONADI: Asesoran a museos de Antigua Guatemala, bulletin of 20 March 2023; read 10 November 2026.
- Guatemala.com: Inauguraron Museo San Agustín en Antigua Guatemala, secondary, updated 28 August 2024; read 10 November 2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
San Agustín church and convent ruins in Antigua: where, what survives, can you visit?
Yes, through the Museo San Agustín that opened inside the ruins in August 2024 (Guatemala.com report of 28 August 2024). The Ministry of Culture’s SIC directory places the complex between 7a. Avenida Sur and 5a. Calle Poniente; what stands are the walls, arcades and the two façades of the Augustinian church and convent.
What are Museo San Agustín's opening hours?
The AMG-ICOM museum directory lists Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 - 15:00 hrs (undated, read 10 November 2026). Guatemala.com’s opening report of August 2024 gave Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call 7873-4646 before an afternoon visit.
How much does Museo San Agustín cost?
The AMG-ICOM listing prints Nacionales Q.5.00, Centroamericanos Q.15.00, Estudiantes extranjeros Q.20.00 and Extranjeros Q.40.00, the same four amounts Guatemala.com reported at the opening.
Why is San Agustín not on CNPAG's list of open monuments?
CNPAG’s undated services page lists six monuments open to tourists and San Agustín is not one of them. CNPAG does list San Agustín among its restoration projects, with a 2014-2022 project to restore the church, and the museum’s directory phone is CNPAG’s switchboard number.
What happened to San Agustín after the earthquakes?
SIC says the 1773 earthquakes almost totally destroyed it and the dome over the main altar fell in the 1917 earthquake. In 1938 the ruins were a carpentry shop and an oxen corral; after Antigua was declared a National Monument in 1944 the site was vacated and preserved.
Is Museo San Agustín wheelchair accessible?
The AMG-ICOM listing says it has access for wheelchair users and offers audio guides, QR-code labels, guided visits and book sales. In March 2023 CONADI, the disability council, described the museum as the pilot of an accessibility plan.
