Sonsonate

This walkable western Salvadoran city with a centre dense with historic churches and a real café and restaurant scene, Sonsonate sits alongside the river that gave it its Náhuat name. Founded in 1553 as Villa de la Santísima Trinidad de Sonsonate in a cacao-producing zone, it was the third Spanish settlement in what is now El Salvador and served as a separate colonial capital throughout the Spanish period. Its Holy Week celebrations have been recognised as part of the country's religious heritage by legislative decree since 2013.

• Population59,468
• Nearest water from center0.4 km
• Nearest mountain from center6.5 km
• UNESCO within 50 km1