La Libertad Department (El Salvador)

La Libertad Department (El Salvador)

La Libertad is one of the departments of El Salvador and is located in the southwest of the country. The capital is Santa Tecla. It has 1,653 km² and a population of more than 780,400 people. It was classified as a department on January 28, 1865. The population was settled on the Ulliman Plains, which is where rubber is harvested. The city was called "Nueva Ciudad de San Salvador" (New City of San Salvador) and made the department's capital on the same date as the department was declared.The department's capital was renamed Santa Tecla on December 22, 2003. The agricultural products that are cultivated are the basic grains, balsam, sugar cane, coffee, grass, hortenses plants, cocoa, and fruits. They also develop the bovine, equine and pig cattle, the raising of poultries and the beekeeping. It also stands out the textile industry and the productions of candles, soaps, furniture, clothes, footwear, dairy products, and many diverse products and liquors.

At 12 km. to the west of the capital city, in a valley at 923 meters above the sea level is located the well-known town with the name of Santa Tecla whose official name is Nueva San Salvador. Because of the fact of being between on the sides of Quezaltepeque or Volcano of San Salvador and a low and picturesque mountain, in poetic language it’s designated as “The city of the hills”. The earthquake of April 16, 1854 destroyed the capital city from its foundations. Facing those moving debris, the president José María San Martín settled the government's new headquarters in the plain of Santa Tecla. The decree was emitted the following August 8, but it was not until the Christmas Day of the same year that the neighbors took possession of the place and they swore vicinity. It was ascended to the category of departmental head on January 28, 1865. The picturesque parks “Daniel Hernandez”, with the bust in marble of the great educator, and “San Martín”, with a monument erected celebrating the centennial of the city of Nueva San Salvador, are located in Santa Tecla. It possesses beautiful modern and old churches: The parish of Concepción and the neo-gothic Carmen’s Church, built at the end of the past century by the architect, sculptor, and painter Pascacio Gonzales.