St. Stephen's Church (''Iglesia San Esteban'') is a historic Roman Catholic church in downtown

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 ...

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 ...

. It belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and its patron saint is the protomartyr,

St. Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

. Built 1880–1890, it was heavily damaged during the January 2001 and February 2001 El Salvador earthquakes, and is currently closed pending repairs. At the time of its construction, the church's building materials, imported from Belgium, were widely admired by 19th-century residents of San Salvador. The church is one of the important churches of San Salvador, having a key role in the "''semana santa''" ( Holy Week) celebrations of San Salvador. The Church marks the start of "The Road of Bitterness" (''la Calle de la Amargura''), El Salvador's analog of the Via Dolorosa, over which the

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

Via Crucis procession makes its way, to the destination Church "''El Calvario''." The two churches mark the vertical axis of a giant cross formed over the Salvadoran capital with its horizontal axis formed by a third church, ''La Vega'', and the Metropolitan Cathedral.Iglesia San Esteban hace milagros por existir
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Picture of Iglesia San Esteban in its current state

Illustration: San Salvador mayor's restoration plan for the Church
Roman Catholic churches in El Salvador Buildings and structures in San Salvador {{RC-church-stub