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One may wonder why there were so many religious buildings within a new city . This was due to the fact that Spain had named Guatemala as the headquarters of the Capitan í a General de la Regi ó n. At present this is the territory consisting of Chiapas and all of Central America . This made it the capital of the system of cities in Central America , and therefore headquarters of the highest administrative, judicial, military, and ecclesiastic institutions. Hence, the main religious orders--Franciscans, Dominicans, Order of Our Lady of Mercy Brothers, Augustinians, Jesuits and Preachers of San Felipe Neri, and the female monasteries such as Capucchinas, the Bethlem Order, Saint Theresa, Conception, Saint Catherine, and Saint Clara-all had their main convents in this city. They competed with each other for the most magnificent buildings and used their names to designate the surrounding neighborhoods. |