St. Stephen's Church (''Iglesia San Esteban'') is a historic

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in downtown

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. It belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador The Archdiocese of San Salvador is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. Its episcopal see, archepiscopal see is the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador, and the surrounding region. The curren ...

and its patron saint is the protomartyr,

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

. 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 Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

) 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 The (Latin for 'Sorrowful Way', often translated 'Way of Suffering'; ; ) is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus took, forced by the Roman soldiers, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding rou ...

, over which the

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

Via Crucis The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

procession makes its way, to the destination Church "''El Calvario''." The two churches mark the vertical axis of a giant

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

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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References

External links

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