An enormous explosion from Lake Ilopango in the second or third century B.C., for example, forced widespread migration of native populations, and the eruption of Caldera Loma 1,400 years ago buried a Maya village, today known as Joya de Cer n or the Pompeii of the Americas, in ash. Cerro Verde, Izalco and Santa Ana Volcanoes Three popular volcanoes to visit in western El Salvador are Cerro Verde, Izalco and Santa Ana. Our horses snorted with terror, and the ground quaked beneath our feet . . . In a few minutes we came out suddenly on an open point, higher than the top of the volcano, commanding a view of the interior of the crater, and so near it that we saw the huge stones as they separated in the air, and fell pattering around the sides of the volcano. In a few minutes our clothes were white with ashes, which fell around us with a noise like the sprinkling of rain.
Visitors still climb to that same lookout, but the experience today is distinctly different.
There is no need for a horse, thanks to a well-paved road that winds up the side of Cerro Verde to arrive at the cloud forest park on top. From lookout points near the parking lot, visitors may safely observe Izalco Volcano, today at rest, and the Pacific plain that shimmers far below. ASL, still dominates the younger volcano, which has grown to only 1877 m. Izalco Volcano was once known as the Lighthouse of the Pacific because its fiery top could be seen by ships far from shore, but it has been dormant for more than thirty years. Its last violent eruption occurred in February 1957, and no activity has been registered since October 1966.