You can’t be in Antigua long before you hear the sound of church bells. They are a form of communication in many Guatemalan villages, to indicate the hours of Mass, to accompany a funeral procession, to celebrate church festivals or to announce any special news. In the city of Antigua, there are more than 36 bells.

I lived in Antigua from June, 1971 until September, 1972, and the echo of nearby church bells filled our house and courtyard daily. Wanting to know more about the bells and their history, I decided to study them. Within several months, I had climbed up into the belfries of 32 churches, recorded bell measurements and inscriptions and made rubbings for the documentation of 122 bells in the Department of Sacatepequez.

Now, 28 years later, having retired from my career as an epidemiolgist and professor of Public Health, I have compiled the information into a book, Church Bells of Antigua and Surrounding Villages. The book, published in both English and Spanish, is my effort to preserve this region’s unique history through the inscriptions on the bells, much of it seen by only the few who climb into the belfries.

The art of casting bells is a specialty of only a few blacksmiths. There are 21 different names on the 122 bells studied. Two bells were imported, from London and Spain. There are three main Guatemalan families of fundidores, bell makers: Klee, Vassaux and Goméz.

The oldest bell of the region is dated 1681 and rings from the church in Santo Tomas Milpas Altas. There is no indication of the bell maker. The inscription has two bands of lettering, "ME FVNDIERON EN ESTE PVEBLO DE SANTO TOMAS APOSTOL AÑO DE MIL SEISCIENTOS 81" (They made me in this town of Santo Tomas Apostle Year of 1681.)

The next oldest bell was made 45 years later. It's dated 1726 and graces the small church located in Santiago Zamora. Nearby, at the church of Santa Catarina Barahona, is a bell that carries the date 1737.

The oldest bell in the city of Antigua is located at the church of San Francisco. The date inscribed is 1754, and it is the largest bell in the area, measuring 50 inches in diameter. This bell was made by Tomás Roames who also made two of the bells in the church at Santa Maria de Jesus.

The book includes a document, written in 1802, describing the correspondence via Havana to the Pope regarding excessive abuse of the ringing of bells in Guatemala.

It is intolerable to Christians, this general racket of the bells; because of which, the peace and serenity of the healthy is disturbed, the quietness which the ill require is miserably offended, the minds of each and every person, instead of being stimulated and taking refuge in devotion, are dulled. Bell-ringing, which formerly was done by priests in imitation of the sons of Aaron, whom in the ancient law God entrusted to sound the trumpet to gather together the Hebrew people, now, we are seeing it pitifully transferred to young lads, and the common people, who play games with the bells; now striving to imitate profane sounds, and now disturbing the communities with indecent signals from the bell towers.