Historical Downtown - Old Town

- District 1: Catedral Metropolitana, San Salvador Cathedral, Palacio Nacional, National Palace, National Theatre, National Library, Plaza Gerrardo Barrios, Parque Libertad

District 1 is the most central district. Here you find the Historical Downtown, the Old Town, where the capital has been situated since the 16th century. But after the large earthquakes in 1986 and 2001, many historical buildings collapsed or was partly destroyed. This part of the city has since then fallen into disrepair, since the commercial center has moved to the west, that offers modern buildings and good parking lots, but lacks the historical character of the old part. The historical center is more rundown and less safe then the Western parts. Plaza Barrios and Plaza Libertad/Parque Libertad (Liberty Plaza) are the two mayor squares in the historical downtown. At Plaza Gerardo Barrios (or Plaza Civica), the heart of San Salvador, you find both the impressive white Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana), the largest church of El Salvador, with the national hero Oscar Romero's tomb inside, and the beautiful National Palace (Palacio Nacional), a neo-classical white palace, with 4 main rooms in different colours (red room, yellow room etc) and 101 secondary rooms and a beautiful courtyard filled with palms and greenery. Both are open to visitors (and of course we visited them). Until 1974 the Palacio Nacional was housed the government, including the president's office (the yellow room). It was built 1905-11 to replace the previous palace, that burnt down. The pope John Paul II visited the cathedral twice. During the burial of Oscar Romero, 44 people died after some security forces fired. The previous cathedral was built in 1888, but after it burt down in 1951, the current cathedral started construction, and was finished as late as in 1999. In the 2010s, the beautiful art on the exterior, inspired by Mayan art, unfortunately was removed, making the cathedral's exterior look a bit empty. The equestrian Statue of Capitán General Gerardo Barrios, guarded by soldiers, stands in the middle of the square. Other significant modernist and heritage buildings around the square are the National Theatre (Teatro Nacional), a white neo-classicial building that is the oldest theater in Central America, built in 1917, the ugly, grey but popular National Library (Biblioteca Nacional), a modernist building that replaced the old one that collapsed during an earthquake), the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, Iglesia El Rosario (a grey modern but interesting church with a beautiful colourful interior from 1971), Iglesia El Calvario (a beautiful old grey church), Basílica María Auxiliadora (a white church with a campanile, perhaps the most beautiful church of all), other churches and the Monument to the Heroes of 1811 (Monumento de los Héroes) at Plaza Libertad, a mix of a central square and a park. The historical district is the most walkable area of San Salvador, with many pavements and lots of markets and cheap stores in dark passages. There are some annoying beggars, but the number has decreased the latter years. Some of the beggars will follow you if you walk in to these dark shopping passages.

Casa Dueñas is a grandiose mansion, built by a rich coffee farmer in the 1920s. It housed six American ambassadors and many other facilities. Many celebrities, such as Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Clark Gable stayed there. It was restored in 2001 and is now the Ministry of Education. Calle Arce is a the most important street in the Old Town . If you don't look like a local, some locals will approach you to talk, since it is rare to see non-national tourists in this part of the city. Most of them are harmless, and probably most curious, but can of course make some tourists nervous, considering the risk of scam. This area is definately the one that felt least safe of the ones we visited, probably because of its reputation, it is the only area where we actually walked outdoors and because it is so rundown. But it has a great potential.

WARNING! It is recommended to not walk in the old town alone, without being accompanied by someone who knows the area. If you got visible tattoos, it is definately recommended to cover them, if you don't want to end up in trouble with the locals gangs (that we didn't see, but we know people that got into these kind of troubles). Heavily guarded policemen stand at Plaza Barrios, where locals also sit down and relax, so you can feel fairly safe here daytime. It can also be dangerous to cross the streets, there are few crosswalks, and many of the pavements, if there are any, are in really bad condition. On top of that the motorists are driving like crazy and rarely yield to pedestrians!