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METAPAN |
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 Leaving Santa Ana, CA-12 heads north through agricultural plains and
badly deforested hills, becoming wilder after it passes through the
dusty town of Texistepeque . Sixteen kilometres further on, at the
hamlet of Desagüe, a dirt road leads 2km or so to serene Lago de Güija ,
surrounded by low hills; Río Ostúa, flowing through the lake, forms the
border with Guatemala. On the Las Figuras arm of land - accessible on
foot during the dry season - stretching out on the left side of the lake
shore are a number of faint pre-Columbian rock carvings; the area around
the lakeshore was populated exclusively by indigenous groups until well
into the seventeenth century. You can rent boats from here to the small
island of La Tipa in the lake.
Ten kilometres beyond the lake the small, friendly town of METAPÁN is
scenically situated on the edge of the mountains of the Cordillera
Metapán-Alotepeque, which run east along the border with Honduras.
Having survived a number of setbacks, including two devastating fires
which nearly destroyed the town, Metapán was one of only four
communities which supported Delgado's first call for independence in
1811, when rioting citizens opened the jail and attacked representatives
of the Spanish crown. The Iglesia de la Parroquia , completed in 1743,
is one of El Salvador's finest colonial churches, with a beautifully
preserved facade. Inside, the main altar is flanked by small pieces
worked in silver from a local mine while the ornately decorated cupola
features paintings of San Gregorio, San Augustín, San Ambrosio and San
Jéronimo.
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