As you head south from the downtown sectors of Zonas 1 and 2, you’ll come to a transitional area between the old city core and some of the newer parts of town. Some guidebooks refer to the latter as the “new city,” which to the best of my knowledge has never been used by locals to describe their city layout.
As Guatemala City [1] spread south from the central area, urban planners and architects decided to build around a concept of a civic center to house some of the more important government buildings. Thus was born the Centro Cívico.
Today it houses Guatemala’s Corte Suprema de Justicia (Supreme Court), Banco de Guatemala (Bank of Guatemala), Municipalidad de Guatemala (City Hall), and the administrative offices of the Guatemala Tourist Commission (7a Avenida 1-17 Zona 4, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Fri.).
There’s the occasional exhibit in the lobby and you can get some tourist information, including maps, but you’re probably better off picking these up at the information kiosks at the international airport.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/guatemala/guatemala-city