Suchitoto
A TERRITORY INHABITED FROM PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES
Suchitoto is a municipality in the department of Cuscatlán, El Salvador. Its territory has been inhabited since pre-Columbian times, and it was also the site where the town of San Salvador was founded in 1528, while the Conquest was still in progress. It was abandoned only 17 years later and never reoccupied. Since the end of the Salvadoran civil war, the town has prospered to become one of the most important tourist sites in this country due to its colonial style architecture, very well preserved throughout the town with its cobblestone streets, which has allowed to install picturesque hostels, restaurants and cafes that give the feeling of being in the Hispanic colonial era. According to the 2007official census, Suchitoto has a population of 24,786 inhabitants.
A place you should visit in Suchitoto is the Don Alejandro Coto House-Museum, where you can admire valuable works of pictorial art, a reliquary of religious art, and a beautiful view of the Suchitlán lake.
Attractions in Suchitoto:
Guazapa Volcano: The region is rich in historical and natural heritage. Most of the volcano is covered with tropical dry forest, an ecological system with trees, plants and birds.
La Bermuda Hacienda and Ciudad Vieja: Ciudad Vieja is a place of great historical and cultural importance, because in this area it was established for the second time the Village of San Salvador, ending the power of the pipiles in the year of 1528. This site is one of the best-preserved Conquest-period Spanish sites in the hemisphere. One kilometer from Ciudad Vieja are the ruins of La Bermuda, a later Colonial hacienda house dating from the 1600’s. La Bermuda is considered an outstanding example its kind. Restoration was carried out here in the 1970’s, but the site was burned to the ground at the beginning of the civil war, in the 1980s. It still preserves walls, wooden lintels, and outlying features including ovens and indigo works.
Suchitlán Lake: This impressive artificial lake was born with the construction of a reservoir in 1973. In Lake Suchitlán, guapotes, mojarras, catfish, and pepescas of various species are caught, and you can take tours through its islands “De Las Aves” and “Del Ermitaño”. The boats depart from the modern port of San Juan, which is a tourist complex that offers multiple services such as food and rest areas. From there you can access the ferry to transport vehicles to the north shore of the lake, where you can visit the towns of San Luis del Carmen, and San Francisco Lempa.
Los Tercios Waterfall: The waterfall is located in the Las Animas stream, barely a mile from the city center.
Santa Lucia Church: Built in 1853, it is one of Suchitoto’s main attractions due to its original structure from the colonial era.
GEOPOSITION
Santo Tomás Church, Pascual Abaj Shrine and Chichicastenango Market
Tazumal Archaeological Site
Jamao to the North, Espaillat
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