Ahuachapán

Ahuachapán (awatʃaˈpan) is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. 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 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 and is about an hour's drive from the national wildlife park El Imposible. 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. The municipality of Ahuachapán is located 100 km from the capital city San Salvador. To the north it borders San Lorenzo and the Republic of Guatemala. It is surrounded by San Lorenzo, Atiquizaya and Turín; by Juayúa, 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. There are other tributaries but the Río Paz forms a natural border between El Salvador and Guatemala. Near the Iglesia La Asunción, the Francisco Menéndez Park has a monument to honor General Francisco Menéndez 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.