El Salvador

Discover El Salvador

Fun Foods

Pupusas, Yuca con Chicharrón, Tamales, Panes con Pollo, Curtido, Quesadilla Salvadoreña, Mango con Chili

For nearly 200 years, a volcano in El Salvador glowed so brightly that ships out at sea used it to find their way. Sailors called it the “Lighthouse of the Pacific.”

The volcano is named Izalco, and when it was born in 1770, it began erupting almost nonstop, lighting up the night sky with fire for generations. It finally went quiet in the 1960s, but it helped earn El Salvador its nickname: the Land of Volcanoes.

This small country is packed with more than 20 volcanoes. They can be dangerous, but they also blanket the land in rich soil, perfect for growing coffee and corn.

One of those volcanoes left behind an amazing gift. Around 1,400 years ago, an eruption buried an entire farming village under ash, freezing it in time.

Rediscovered by accident in 1976, the village of Joya de Cerén shows exactly how ordinary Maya people lived, right down to the dishes left in their kitchens. People call it the “Pompeii of the Americas.”

Long ago, this land was home to the Maya and later the Pipil people, who named it Cuscatlán, “the Land of the Jewel.” In 1821, El Salvador broke free from Spanish rule.

The country’s recent history has been hard. From 1980 to 1992, El Salvador suffered a painful civil war, a long fight between its own government and rebel groups.

Tens of thousands of people died, and many families fled the country. Peace finally returned in 1992, and El Salvador has been rebuilding ever since.

Today, visitors come to hike the volcanoes and swim in Lake Coatepeque, a stunning blue lake that fills an old volcanic crater. Along the Flower Route, a road winding through the mountains, colorful villages sell crafts, coffee, and sweets.

El Salvador’s Pacific coast is also famous for some of the best surfing waves in the Americas.

For food, you can’t miss pupusas, the country’s beloved national dish: thick, handmade corn tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans, or pork, and topped with a tangy cabbage slaw called curtido.

Sources: Britannica: El Salvador, Britannica Kids: El Salvador, and UNESCO: Joya de Cerén.