Ahuachapán () is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. The municipality, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km² and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situated near the Guatemalan border, it is the westernmost city in the country and is the center of an agricultural region producing primarily coffee. Ahuachapán is the site of a

geothermal power plant Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 26 ...

and a hydroelectric station. The local geothermal activity produces many steam vents, visible throughout the surrounding mountains. Among other things, Ahuachapan is also the birthplace of notable Salvadoran poet

Alfredo Espino Alfredo Espino (1900—August 1928) was a poet from El Salvador. Born in Ahuachapán, his only book is ''Jícaras Tristes'' (Sad Vessels), a collection of 96 poems. It is one of the most published books of poetry in El Salvador. Espino died ...

and is about an hour's drive from the national wildlife park El Imposible.

History

Ahuachapán was founded by Mayan Indians of the Poqomam tribe in the 5th century, and was invaded in the 15th century by the Izalcos people. It officially gained city status in El Salvador on 11 February 1862 and became the departmental capital on 9 February 1899.

Geography

The municipality of Ahuachapán is located 100 km from the capital city

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

. To the north it borders

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

and the Republic of Guatemala. It is surrounded by

Atiquizaya Atiquizaya is a municipality in the Ahuachapán department Ahuachapán () is a department of El Salvador in the west of the country. The capital is Ahuachapán. In the South it has the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Range and the Cerro Grande de Apane ...

and Turín; by

Juayúa Juayúa is a city and municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador. It is a small town up in the mountains, founded in 1577. Juayua is located in the western part of El Salvador, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from San Salvador. H ...

, Apaneca, and Tacuba to the south. The climate of the municipality is very warm with the temperatures oscillating between 22 °C and 27 °C. The principal river is the

Río Paz The Río Paz () is a river in southern Guatemala. Its sources are located in the Quezalapa mountains in the north of Jutiapa. From there it flows in a south-westerly direction and marks the border with El Salvador for most of its course before re ...

. There are other tributaries but the Río Paz forms a natural border between

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Local attractions

Monuments/main attractions

Near the

Iglesia La Asunción Iglesia may refer to: * Iglesia Department * Iglesia ni Cristo * Iglesia Filipina Independiente , native_name_lang = fil , icon = Logo of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church).svg , icon_width = 8 ...

, the Francisco Menéndez Park has a monument to honor General

Francisco Menéndez Francisco Menéndez Valdivieso (3 December 1830 – 22 June 1890) was Provisional President of El Salvador from 22 June 1885 to 1 March 1887, then President of El Salvador from 1 March 1887 until his death on 22 June 1890. General Francisco Me ...

who was president of the republic. There is a bronze plate indicating the house where he lived. One of the main attractions is the Central Plaza, which contains: the Central Park, known as Parque Concordia, surrounded by City Hall (a modern style building with a little resemblance of art deco, rebuilt after a fire in the 1950s), the town's main church, Iglesia de La Asunción, which is over 100 years old, and the Pasaje Concordia, also known as "the new place in town," that was restored in the early twenty first century and is a pedestrian-only street.

Lagoon of El Espino

It was formerly called Huitziapan or "Laguna de la Espina" and is four kilometers to the north-west of the city of Ahuachapan, along the international highway to Guatemala. Between this body of water and the city of Ahuachapán, the first battle in the history of independent Central America took place; the battle of Espino, on 12 March 1822. . Central Geotérmica Ahuachapán 01

Other attractions include

Los Ausoles Los Ausoles is a group of hot springs located 20 kilometers north of Ahuachapán in El Salvador. The area has been described as "the capital of Central American geothermal." Many of the springs in the area produce heavy steam, and as of 1850, were ...

(an area of geysers, small and large steam vents and bubbling hot fountains), the Lagoon Morán, Atehuecillas and Malacatiupán. Close to Las Chinamas is "Los Encuentros" where the "Rio Paz" river and the "El Pulula" river (Guatemalan river) merge. "La Poza de la Yerba Buena" of the Pueblo Viejo river in the Cantón Santa Cruz is nearby. El Arco Durán, situated in the perimeter of the city of Ahuachapán, is a replica of a famous French arch, with all kinds of delicious and typical Salvadorean "Pupusas" nearby.

Administrative divisions

Cantons

The municipality is divided into 29 cantons (regions/districts). These are: Ashapuco, Chancuyo, Chipilapa, Cuyanausul, El Anonal, Cantón Platanares, El Roble, El Tigre, El Barro, Guayaltepec, La Coyotera, La Danta, La Montañita, Las Chinamas (Puesto Fronterizo), Llano de Doña María, Llano de La Laguna o El Espino, Loma de La Gloria, Los Huatales, Los Magueyes, Los Toles, Nejapa, Palo Pique, Río Frío, San Lázaro, San Ramón, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa Acacalco, Suntecumat y Tacubita.

Towns and villages in the municipality

*Agua Shuca *Ahuachapán *Ashapuco *Ataco *Calapa *Chancuyo *Chipilapa *Cuyanausul *El Anonal *El Barro *El Espino *El Jobo *El Junquillo *El Mojón *El Roble *El Saitillal *El Tigre *Guayaltepec *Hacienda San Isidro *Hacienda San Luis *La Angostura *La Coyotera *La Danta *La Guascota *La Montañita *Las Chinamas *Las Delicias *Llano de Doña Maria *Llano de La Laguna *Loma de La Gloria *Los Horcones *Los Huatales *Los Magueyes *Los Toles *Palo Pique *Río Frío *San José *San Lázaro *San Luis *San Ramón *San Raymundo *San Venancio *Santa Cruz *Santa Rita *Santa Rosa Acacalco *Suntecumat *Tacuba

Climate

Economy

Coffee Processing in Ahuachapan, El Salvador

The most important industries are

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...

, coffee, textiles and construction materials.

Traditions

The most important tradition is the Día de los Farolitos (Day of the Little Lantern Lights), held every year on 7 September, where a parade and celebration is conducted to honor the birth of the Virgin Mary

Notable people

* Ricardo Trigueros Deleón * Humberto Escapini * Roberto Galicia *

Miguel Ángel Espino Miguel Ángel Espino (17 December 1902 – 1 October 1967) was a Salvadoran writer, journalist and lawyer. Life Born into a literary family, Espino was the younger brother of the lyric poet Alfredo Espino. His grandfather was Don Antonio N ...

* Santiago José Celis * Mauricio Linares Aguilar *

* Alvaro Magaña Borja * Timoteo Menéndez * Mario Benjamín Castro

Sports

The

Once Municipal Club Deportivo Once Municipal was a Salvadoran football team from Ahuachapán that last competed in the Primera División, the premier division of Football in El Salvador, in 2018. It was nicknamed "''The Canarian Tank"'', and its home stadium ...

(Municipal Eleven) is the local professional association football club of the Department of Ahuachapán. The home stadium of Once Municipal is

Estadio Simeón Magaña Estadio Simeón Magaña is a multi-use stadium in Ahuachapán Department, El Salvador. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Once Deportivo. Once Municipal hierarchy decided to try to secure their own f ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahuachapan Municipalities of the Ahuachapán Department