Modern-day Guatemala is a unique illustration of the cultural and historical impacts of Spanish Colonialism. The Spanish Empire did not encounter a powerful central civilization to rival the likes of the Incas in Peru or the Aztecs in Mexico. Instead, Guatemala housed the remnants of the Maya, a once powerful civilization past their height. These Maya remnants fought hard to preserve their culture, forcing the Spanish conquistadors to come up with new methods of enslavement and authority. When the Spanish arrived in 1524, the Maya had collapsed into several small, fortified kingdoms, the strongest of which were the K’iche and Kaqchikel in Central Guatemala. The Maya influence is still heavily represented in the modern-day Guatemalan Highlands. The historical and cultural effects of Spanish Imperialism blending with indigenous Maya are still evident to this day in Chichicastenango and Antigua, Guatemala. These two locations significantly reflect the lasting material, physical, and spiritual influence of Spanish Imperialism on modern-day Maya people. This cultural amalgamation uniquely differs from Inca and Aztec counterparts as the religious, physical, and spiritual syncretism takes on a different form for the Maya. When the Spanish arrived, the powerful central Maya culture had collapsed centuries before, creating a unique situation for the Spanish to pacify and control the Maya.