Panchimalco

Indigenous people

Panchimalco is known for its indigenous population and its festivities. Together with Izalco, Panchimalco is considered one of the last two remaining bastions of Amerindian peoples in El Salvador. Villagers still weave and wear colorful native textiles and maintain many indigenous traditions. However, the native language is not one of them. As of the last few years, no Nahuatl speakers remain in Panchimalco. Amerindians comprised 51.6 percent of the Salvadoran population in the 1769-1798 census, but at current time they are numbered at less than 100,000 in all of El Salvador. The number was greatly reduced when forces loyal to Gen. Maximiliano Hernandez massacred up to 30,000 peasants during the Salvadoran peasant uprising of 1932 known as La Matanza.

History

Panchimalco was founded by the pre-Columbian Toltec people who may have emigrated to the area following the fall of their empire in Tabasco in what is now Mexico. During the Spanish conquest of the territory, the area was called "El Fuerte" (the fortress) because of the concave shape of the land that gave the indigenous population an advantage.

The Spanish established Panchimalco as a village, and built its famous colonial church, one of the most important historical monuments in El Salvador. Its original construction date, circa 1725, make it the oldest surviving colonial structure in El Salvador. The clay floor is not original, but marks a restoration completed in 1970. The church was declared a national historic monument by the Salvadoran congress on February 27, 1975.

The hurricane of early June 1934 caused some 54 deaths in Panchimalco.

Culture

The festivities held in Panchimalco are colorful and religious in nature. The Flower & Fronds Fair (Feria de las Flores y Palmas) celebrates the Virgin Mary devotion of the local Catholic church. The cofradías or "co-fraternities" are civic organizations in support of different church festivals, and they organize the various carnivals and celebrations. The procession of the Holy Cross of Rome is the town's official patronal festival. The dance of the Moors and Christians is an odd vestige of a tradition brought over by the Spaniards, which celebrates a Spanish victory over Muslim invaders during the Dark Ages.

Panchimalco was named as among the ten top tourist sites in El Salvador by the Confederation of Latin American Tourist Organizations.

References

References

2. "Diario Colatino - el Decano de la Prensa en El Salvador".
3. "El Salvador :: The people - Britannica Online Encyclopedia".
4. "Archived copy".
5. "En Panchimalco ya no se habla Náhuatl: 22 de marzo 2005 .::. El Diario de Hoy".
6. "Cultural Survival".
7. Bencastro, Mario. (15 March 1997). "The Tree of Life: Stories of Civil War". Arte Publico Press.
8. "El Portal de El Salvador -ElSalvadorAqui.com- | Fotoreportajes -Panchimalco".
9. "Panchimalco un rinc?n desperdiciado - Hunnapuh - Comentarios".
10. (12 June 1934). "CAPITULO DE DESGRACIAS Grandes nundaciones • Se habla de miles de víctimas". [[La Vanguardia]].