San Francisco Gotera () is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Morazán department
Morazán () is a Departments of El Salvador, department of El Salvador. Located in the northeast part of the country, its capital is San Francisco Gotera. It covers a total surface area of 1,447 km2 (558.8 mi² Square Miles).
History
G ...
of
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 is the capital of the Morazán department in El Salvador.
Name
Gotera is a native word that is derived from two roots: "Got," meaning snake or serpent, and "era," meaning hill. The name has been interpreted to mean "hill of snakes." The original population of Gotera occupied the summit of the hill known as Coroban, where remains of the original population can still be found. The ancient pueblo of Gotera was renamed San Francisco after the parish of the same name. Today, the city is referred to as San Francisco Gotera, or simply Gotera.
History
Because of the
Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War () was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guer ...
, part of the park was turned into a military base and the other part was paved. The military base sat unused for several years, but was converted into a municipal market in 2002. Today, the market is nearly empty because a larger, covered market with running water and trash pick-up was constructed in 2003 two blocks to the east of the old military base. The current military base sits on the banks of the San Francisco River.
Today
Gotera is the department head and largest municipality in Morazán. The Destacamento Militar 4 (Military base no. 4) operates out of Gotera. City Hall, the oldest Catholic church in town, a defunct movie theater, the government center and the post office surround a small, paved town square. Before 1980 the square was larger and it was grassed in and had several shade trees.
Climate
References
Notable people
*
Juan Isolino Rosa (1914-2004), composer and folklorist
Municipalities of the Morazán Department
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