Church and Convent of Society of Jesus, Jesuit church and convent ruins in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

The Church and Convent of the Society of Jesus comprises a ruined church and a rebuilt convent on a block 300 metres west of the Cathedral of San José. The church, dedicated in 1698, has thick walls and stone arches; the convent retains three cloisters and housed the Colegio de San Lucas.

The Jesuits arrived in Santiago de Guatemala in 1607 and opened the San Lucas School that October. The church was built from 1690 to 1698 by José de Porres, with his son Diego serving as apprentice. The San Miguel earthquake of 1717 damaged the tower and main gate, and the San Casimiro earthquake of 1751 destroyed the roof; both times the Jesuits rebuilt. In 1767 King Carlos III's Pragmatic Sanction expelled the order, and the school closed.

The San Lucas School opened on 18 October 1607, named for Saint Luke, for benefactor Lucas Hurtado and for the San Lucas earthquake that struck the city on that date. It taught reading, grammar, rhetoric, philosophy and theology, and boys from age eight were admitted free.

The convent wing has been rebuilt and can be walked through, while the church itself stands in ruins, so expect open-air, uneven ground rather than a roofed interior. The block lies on the west side of the Plaza de Armas, about 300 m from the Cathedral of San José. Allow time to cross the whole compound on foot.

The church was dedicated on October 21, 1698, and was considered one of the most beautiful in Spanish America. Master builder Diego de Porres had learned the trade as an apprentice on this very project, working under his father José de Porres.