Jayaque is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the La Libertad

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

. According to the 2007 census, Jayaque has a population of 11,058. It covers an area of approximately and has an altitude of at its highest elevation. The Nahuatl place-name Jayaque, Shaycat or Xayacatepeque, translates to "Hill of the masked" or "Hill of the masks or of the enamored ones."

History

According to 21st century municipal records, the settlers of this site occupied the territory of Opico, but left the site due to "several plagues" at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1770, according to Pedro Cortés y Larraz, the village was home to 578 people. It has been a part of the Department of La Libertad since 28 January 1865, and was officially designated a city 18 May 1926. In the 1960s and 70s Jayaque was a vibrant town that served as the financial and educational center for all the other towns in the region. With the advent of political problems in the 1980s, the town lost its preeminence and became a more passive participant in the area's social, political and economic activities. It was not as significantly impacted by the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

of 1979-1992 as other communities in El Salvador and as a result, many people from more war-torn areas migrated to Jayaque and the surrounding areas. This wave of migrants brought with it violence and instability; gang violence continues to affect the area into the 21st century.

General Information

Jayaque has traditionally based its economy on coffee production. The town is surrounded by coffee plantations, and there are a number of coffee production facilities in these plantations where fresh coffee is processed and beans are made ready for export. As is true across El Salvador, most of Jayaque's residents are

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Celebrations are held every year in July to honor Jayaque's patron saint, Saint Christopher. Together with their nearby sister community of

Cuisnahuat Cuisnahuat (Nawat: ) is a city and municipality in the Sonsonate department Sonsonate () is a Departments of El Salvador, department of El Salvador in the western part of the country. The capital is Sonsonate. The department has a population o ...

and the residents of

Tepecoyo Tepecoyo is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador, situated 30 minutes from Santa Tecla. Tradition Tepecoyo is a very old and traditional town like every other Pipil settlement. It was founded by only four families. Its ...

, the people of Jayaque celebrate the Festival of "Los Cumpas" (a colloquialism designated to represent the companionship between sister cities). Some Protestant churches have also been established, however, with the most significant growth of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

occurring during and after the civil war. The Lutheran Church, very small in El Salvador, has churches in Jayaque and in the nearby community of Dos de Mayo, which is officially a part of Jayaque. These churches are sponsored by the Lutheran Church of Penzberg, Bavaria, Germany as well as through relationships with churches in the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

, in southeast Wisconsin, USA. For many years, the pastors of the churches in Jayaque (Pan de Vida ILS) and Dos de Mayo (Montes de Penzberg ILS) were Francisco and Jesus Carrillo. The Carrillos were murdered 4 November 2006 just outside the church in Dos de Mayo after leading worship service there, and are considered by many to be martyrs. Investigation into the murders was discontinued in 2008 due to concerns the investigation itself might be contributing to additional violence. Gang violence and politically motivated assassination are plausible theories. Pastor Blanca Irma Rodriguez was called to replace the Carrillos following their assassination. {{La Libertad Department Municipalities of the La Libertad Department (El Salvador)