La Antigua Guatemala was founded as Santiago de Guatemala, and was one of the most important Spanish cities of the new world. As seat of The Captaincy General of Guatemala between the years 1543 and 1773, it was a political, religious, economic and cultural center of the region comprised between Chiapas and Costa Rica. Because of the destructive 1773 earthquakes and the Royal Decrees of the same year, the capital was transferred to el Valle de la Ermita and was founded as La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción and that is why the abandoned city was called "La Antigua Guatemala"