Most of Xela's sights crowd in and around the broad central plaza, known as the Parque Centro América. The original version, designed by Italian architect Alberto Porta in the 1800s, comprised two separate parks; these were combined in a 1930s update into its current oblong shape. Most notable of the monuments scattered along its expanse is a rotunda of Ionic columns dedicated to the composer Rafael Álvarez Ovalle, locally known as 'The Kiosk '. In the center of the plaza is a pillar dedicated to Justo Rufino Barrios, the 19th-century president whose 'reforms' transferred land ownership from Maya peasants to coffee-plantation owners. At the southern end, the Casa de Cultura houses the Museo de Historia Natural . The museum holds a hodgepodge of Maya artifacts, vintage photos, dried leaves, old coins, marimbas, sports trophies, stuffed mammals and birds, all displayed in cases reminiscent of elementary school outings.
The ornately carved facade of the Iglesia del Espíritu Santo marks the site of the original 1532 construction, pulverized by the quakes of 1853 and 1902. The modern Metropolitan Cathedral behind it was finished in the 1990s.
The municipalidad , at the northeastern end of the park, was rebuilt after the 1902 earthquake in the grandiose neoclassical style. Step inside to see a planted mosaic of the town seal. Another neoclassical structure just north, the Edificio Rivera , has been handsomely renovated (complete with fast-food franchise).
On the west side of the park between 4a and 5a Calles is the Pasaje Enríquez , an imposing arcade patterned after a structure in Florence, Italy, housing an assortment of travel agencies, language institutes, cafes and one major bar.
