Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias, Performing arts center in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias stands in Guatemala City's Centro Cívico on the site of the old Fuerte de San José de Buena Vista, its concrete mass shaped to resemble a seated jaguar. The pale beige facade carries three deep arched openings with dark grilles, and a square tower with a faceted, umbrella-like roof rises right of center. Inside are the Gran Sala Efraín Recinos, the Teatro de Cámara Hugo Carrillo and the open-air Teatro Otto René Castillo.

The site was the Fuerte de San José de Buena Vista, a military fort inaugurated on 25 May 1846 for defence and as a state prison; in 1872 it became a barracks and the first public primary school. On 20 October 1944 Jacobo Árbenz, Jorge Toriello Garrido and Francisco Javier Arana took it by assault, forming the ruling junta. President Ydígoras Fuentes launched the theatre project in 1961; after the 1963 coup and architect Marco Vinicio Asturias's death it stalled, and Efraín Recinos completed it in 1978.

The complex is named after Miguel Ángel Asturias, the Guatemalan writer who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Literature. Its main hall honours engineer Efraín Recinos, the chamber theatre commemorates director Hugo Carrillo, and the open-air amphitheatre is named for poet Otto René Castillo. The centre also houses the Museo del Ejército de Guatemala and Radio Faro Cultural.

The complex is centrally located and easily reached on foot or by local transportation. Plan to check ahead about event schedules and access times, as these can vary throughout the year.

The complex occupies eight city blocks of the Centro Cívico, on the same ground as the Fuerte de San José de Buena Vista inaugurated on 25 May 1846. Before construction, the abandoned fort hosted travelling circuses, boxing nights and children's fairs. The centre's name honours Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemala's Nobel literature laureate.