La Paz Department (El Salvador)

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La Paz
Department

Flag

Location within El Salvador

Coordinates: 132902N 885732WCoordinates: 132902N 885732W
Country El Salvador
Created February 1852
(given current status)
Seat Zacatecoluca
Area
Total 1,227.6 km2 (474.0 sq mi)
Area rank Ranked 9th
Population
Total 328,221
Rank Ranked 10th
Density 270/km2 (690/sq mi)
 Time zone CST (UTC6)
ISO 3166 code SV-PA
La Paz is a department of El Salvador in the south central area of the country. The capital is
Zacatecoluca. La Paz has an area of 1,228 km and a population of more than 328,000. The department
was created in 1852. There are various caves containing rock writing. The department has a church in
Zacatecoluca where the Independence Hero Dr Jose Simeon Caas y Villacorta was born. He was
known as "The Liberator of the Slaves in Central America". In 1833, Anastasio Aquino, an indigenous
person, proclaimed himself as "The Emperor of the Nonualcos".

Contents
1 Municipalities
2 Notable residents
2.1 Jos Simon Caas Villacorta
2.2 Anastasio Martir Aquino
2.3 Camilo Minero
2.4 Sal Flores
3 Dance and traditions
3.1 Food traditions
4 References
5 External links

Municipalities
1. Cuyultitn
2. El Rosario
3. Jerusaln
4. Mercedes La Ceiba
5. Olocuilta
6. Paraso de Osorio
7. San Antonio Masahuat
8. San Emigdio
9. San Francisco Chinameca
10. San Juan Nonualco
11. San Juan Talpa
12. San Juan Tepezontes
13. San Luis La Herradura
14. San Luis Talpa
15. San Miguel Tepezontes
16. San Pedro Masahuat
17. San Pedro Nonualco
 18. San Rafael Obrajuelo
19. Santa Mara Ostuma
20. Santiago Nonualco
21. Tapalhuaca
22. Zacatecoluca
23. Comalapa, La Paz

Notable residents
Jos Simon Caas Villacorta
Caas was born in Zacatecoluca on February 18, 1767. His parents were Don Pablo Caas and Dona
Ana Lucia Villacorta de Caas. He studied in the school San Francisco de Borja and later on in San
Carlos University, in Guatemala, where he was a rector, philosopher, theologist and humanist. On
December 31, 1823, he became the first advocate for the first abolition of slavery in the Americas,
decades before the abolitionist movement in the United States.

Anastasio Martir Aquino

He was born in the town of Santiago Nonualco on April 15, 1792. His parents were Toms Aquino and
Mara de San Carlos, natives and residents of the place. In 1833, during the presidency of Mariano
Prado, reformations were imposed that caused dissatisfaction, including a personal tax that was
interpreted as a restoration of the tribute, one of the most unjust colonial taxes of the time. It was
Santiago de Nonaluco that a rebellion began under the leadership of Aquino.

Camilo Minero
Minero was born in Zacatecoluca on May 11, 1917. He began painting at a young age. He showed his
works in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, United States, and Germany. He was professor
of the School of plastic arts of the University of El Salvador (UES). From 1964 up to 1972, he was the
Dean of the Department of Journalism at UES.

Sal Flores
He was born in Zacatecoluca on August 16, 1889 and died in San Salvador in 1980. Some of his works
are the National Readings of El Salvador, This is my earth, Schools and teachers from El
Salvador, Mother earth, and Seed.

Dance and traditions

This department is one of the oldest in the country; hence it adopted many of ancestral customs and
dances including The Tiger and the Deer, "The Ascension Bulls, The Levers of Santa Cruz, and
others.
The dance of The Tiger and the Deer goes back to 1868, when San Juan Nonualco was inhabited by
natives that lived off the hunting of deer that were plentiful in the area. However, there was a tiger that
devoured the animals. The dance presents the story of a married couple that left to hunt the tiger;
however, he was attacked by the animal and he had to request aid to some timber men that were close
and to beg to the Seor de la Caridad, protector of the municipality, to save them of the danger. The
hunters killed the tiger. The dance is carried out in the party of May 2. It consists of four characters:
the old ones that represent the couple that go with the shotgun and the bow; the tiger and the Lord of
the drum that mark the steps of the dance. The spectators watch when the tiger attacks the old ones, but
these behead it. The most amusing part is the repartition of the portions of the animal, which is called
behead the priest, the forehead for Vicente, the head for Teresa... until all the residents are
beheaded.
The Ascension Bulls tradition belongs to San Juan Nonualco. It speaks of a character called Isidro
Labrador. They tell that on Thursday of Ascension, the day that celebrates Christ's ascent to Heaven,
Isidro began to work the field and when he arrived to the oxen, he heard one of them say: Isidro, today
we won't work. He fell on his knees, begging forgiveness to God for not having remembered the date.
Based on this event, the celebration is kept on Thursday of Ascension like the day dedicated to the
bulls. In the six neighborhoods of San Juan Nonualco, the inhabitants manufacture a bull that they walk
through the streets. The hermitages are adorned with altars and the Rosario is prayed. When concluding
the prayer, the competition or fights of the bulls begin.

Food traditions
Among the typical food that you can find there is the atol, made from cashews. This atol has been done
in the same manner, transmitted from generation to generation, for about 20 years. Some common
dishes include pupusas, empanadas de leche or frijoles (banana on the outside and inside is pureed milk
or beans).