Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Guatemala City ita ce wurin garin Mayan na Kaminaljuyu, wanda aka kafa a kusa da 1500 BC. Bayan nasarar Mutanen Espanya
, an kafa sabon gari, kuma a cikin 1776 an sanya shi babban birnin Masarautar Guatemala. A shekara ta 1821, Guatemala City ita ce wurin da aka ayyana 'yancin kai na Amurka ta Tsakiya daga Spain, bayan haka ya zama babban birnin sabuwar lardin lardin Amurka ta Tsakiya (daga baya Tarayyar Jamhuriyar Amurka ta Tsakiya). A shekara ta 1847, Guatemala ta ayyana kanta a matsayin jamhuriya mai zaman kanta, tare da Guatemala City a matsayin babban birninta. Birnin ya kasance a cikin abin da yanzu Antigua Guatemala, kuma an koma wurin da yake a yanzu a 1777. Guatemala City da asalin wurin da ke Antigua Guatemala kusan sun lalace gaba ɗaya ta girgizar ƙasa ta 1917-18. Sake ginawa bayan girgizar ƙasa ya haifar da yanayin gine-gine na zamani.