Iglesia El Rosario, El Salvador
This is a Guest Post by Melissa Carter*
El Salvador, sitting atop the narrow ribbon of land that
links South with North America, takes its name from a literal
translation of a latino name for Jesus Christ - The Saviour. The
country, like so many in that region, is a heady and eclectic mixture of
the colours and customs of the native American peoples who once lived
there, together with the societies and civilities imported from Old
World Spain, which arrived not 500 years ago and hasn't ceased its
influence on the area since. I was there a few months ago on a
Volunteering placement through an organization linked to the UK's
Department of International Development. The area known mostly as 'Latin
America' has always fascinated and compelled me, and after many years of
yearning to see it, drew me in at last to one of its most mysterious and
under appreciated corners, the isthmus of Central America.
While there, I saw and did a great deal, and learned such
a concentrated dose of information I've had trouble in all the months
since I've returned summarizing it all - cataloguing it together. Such
is the nature of falling out of your comfort zone to such a great
extent, yet having at all times to keep your head above the water - (a
necessity in a country at times so wild and unpredictable as El
Salvador) - a head that remains steady right until about the day you
return, whereupon it all unravels and leaves you feeling shell shocked.
Some of the things I saw left a greater impression than others. The
sights of grinding poverty lying at every street side are likely not to
leave me for a long while yet. But what sticks most clearly are the
sights and colours - the smells and sounds - the sensory experiences that
linger longer in your head that memories linked to words and thoughts.
Perhaps it is fitting, then, that my clearest memory of my time in El
Salvador is of the place where my senses were most shocked and awed,
where the barrage of colour and form was greatest: The Iglesia El
Rosario church, one of the most spectacular sights I've ever laid eyes
upon.
The church sits in Central San Salvador, the capital city
of El Salvador and one of the dirtiest, rudest, most overbearingly invasive cities
I've ever visited. But here, right at the centre of it, is a place of
such beauty and calmness you'd be surprised even by its existence.
What you first see of the Iglesia El Rosario is the
rather squat form it occupies in downtown San Salvador - from the
outside it's a huge, semi circle of parched, cracked grey concrete -
many have said that, for its appearance, it could just as easily be an air force hanger as one of the most important and significant churches in
the entire nation.
But once you locate the hidden side entrance to the great
church and step inside, you're greeted by something of the highest order
of brilliance. For then you're standing inside one of the great wonders
European modernist Church architecture - one of the last and boldest
creations of that most experimental period in design. Finished in 1971,
it was designed by the legendary Salvadoran born architect Ruben
Martinez. The shape that looks so bizarre from the outside makes sense
entirely from the inside - with the huge 'steps' leading from one side
of the semi circle to other filled entirely with thick, stained glass of
bright and bold colours from top to bottom, washing the interior with
warm tones and creating a strikingly ethereal sense, as you walk amongst
the pews and feel yourself gazing uncontrollably upwards.
In the tragically short time we were able to spend in and
around the church, marvelling at it from all angles, we learnt a little
from the local Dominican monks who look after and run it nowadays about
its history and place in El Salvador's bustling society. The burial
place of Padre Delgado - widely accepted as the father of Central
American independence - the church is one of the most significant not
only in El Salvador, but in the entire region. What's more, it had a
role to play in the tragic saga of El Salvador's vicious and brutal
Civil War, which raged devastatingly through the 70s, 80s and early 90s.
Soldiers surrounding the church, desperate to kill of all rallies taking
place in the area (the church is almost next to the old governmental
palace) once pumped the building full of bullets as they chased some
protesters through its doors - you can see, even today, the holes these
bullets made, some of them, chillingly, having come through people's
bodies to embed themselves in the cast iron doors. For many days, brave
souls who dared protest the terrifying El Salvadoran government hid out
in the church, and a plaque lies there today commemorating their
sacrifice.
Though well off the beaten track, the Iglesia el Rosario
in San Salvador is a place truly unmissable for those who want to stand
in real, coloured beauty and savour the taste of a history mysterious and
magical. El Salvador is a place I shall not ever forget, and el Rosario
is instrumental in giving the wondrous memories of that place a colour
and tone that'll stay with me always.
Image from Flickr is by raubianconeri
Image from Flickr is by J. Stephen Conn
Image from Flickr is by zambomba
Image from Photobucket is by author and is under copyright © Melissa Carter
Image from Photobucket is by author and is under copyright © Melissa Carter
Image from Flickr is by John Donaghy
Image from Flickr is by John Donaghy
Image from Photobucket is by author and is under copyright © Melissa Carter
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*This post is based on the personal knowledge of the guest author Melissa Carter, who is a part-time freelance
travel writer and photographer. In her own words;
"I have enjoyed a vast range
of exciting vacations from
North American cruises to treks across the outback. I
work full time in healthcare and put all my spare cash
towards my next adventure."
Thank you Melissa for writing
this informative post.
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