Nahuizalco is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Sonsonate

Sonsonate Department

Sonsonate is a department of El Salvador in the western part of the country. The capital is Sonsonate.The department has a population of over 500,000 and an area of 1,226 km².Created on June 12, 1824...

 department

Departments of El Salvador

||A list of the departments of El Salvador in alphabetical order.Department :# Ahuachapán # Cabañas # Chalatenango # Cuscatlán # La Libertad # La Paz...

 of El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

. It lies on the "flowers route" (Ruta de las Flores), 9 km from Sonsonate and 74 km from San Salvador

San Salvador

The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...

, at 540 m above sea level on the southern part of the Apaneca

Apaneca

Apaneca is a municipality in the Ahuachapán department of El Salvador.It has an area of 45.13 kilometers. Its population is of 8,597 inhabitants . The municipality is divided in 7 cantons:*El Saltillal*Palo Verde*Quezalapa*San Ramoncito...

-Ilamatepec mountain range.

There are strong indigenous customs. Its name in Nahuatl language means "place of four Izalcos "; by tradition, it was founded by four families from the nearby town of Izalco

Izalco

Izalco is a municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador.Volcan Izalco is an icon of the country of El Salvador, a very young parasitic cone on the flank of Santa Ana volcano...

. It is famous for its wicker

Wicker

Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used....

 and tule

Tule

Schoenoplectus acutus , called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America...

 handcrafts. Tule is processed in two different varieties: the water kind, brought from the Pacific coast, and the dark one used for making "petates" (floor mats). Nahuizalco is also famous for its night market. The streets are lit only by candles and the products made of wicker and tule are sold until 10pm.

The colonial church was seriously damaged during the earthquake of 2001 and subsequently restored. The church honors John the Baptist

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

 every June 20 - 25.

It is a birthplace of poets Alfredo Alvarado, Carlos Arturo Imendia and a very outstanding nurse Julia Torres.