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.

Stained Glass Mysteries

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.

Brutal Times

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.