page_title: San Salvador Historic Downtown
section_title: National Palace
hierarchical_section_title: San Salvador Historic Downtown / Notable Sites / National Palace
caption_attribution_description: This is a photo of an monument in El Salvador identified by the ID 06140001
context_page_description: The San Salvador historic downtown includes the area where the capital city of El Salvador has been located since the 16th century. This district has long been the country's political, economic and religious center.
  The history of San Salvador began here in the mid-16th century. After the pacification of the region by the Spanish conquistadors, the small town of Villa de San Salvador in the Valle de la Bermuda was gradually abandoned. The settlement was relocated in 1545 to the valley known by the native Pipils as Zalcuatitán, and renamed "Valle de las Hamacas" by the Spaniards. This campsite was on the slope then called Palo Verde, and was known as "La Aldea". North of that site rose the Plaza Mayor, where the Plaza Libertad now stands. The Church dedicated to Santísimo Salvador del Mundo was erected on its east side.
  The original buildings of the Spanish colony have been mostly destroyed by natural disasters over the years. The few notable surviving buildings were erected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The earthquake of 1986 severely damaged the area, and due to rising unemployment it has been occupied by a large number of street vendors and other informal traders.
context_section_description: The current National Palace building replaced the old National Palace built in  1866–1870, which was destroyed by fire on December 19, 1889. The construction, done between 1905 and 1911, was the work of engineer José Emilio Alcaine, under the direction of the foreman Pascasio González Erazo. To finish the project, legislation was passed that collected one colon for every quintal of coffee exported. The materials used were imported from several European countries including Germany, Italy and Belgium. The Palace's facilities were occupied by government offices until 1974.
  The building contains four main rooms and 101 secondary rooms; each of the four main rooms has a  distinctive color. The Red Room (Salon Rojo) is used for receptions held by the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry, and the ceremonial presentation of ambassadors' credentials. It has been used for ceremonial purposes since the administration of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.  The Yellow Room (Salon Amarillo) is used as an office for the President of the Republic, while the Pink Room (Salon Rosado) housed the Supreme Court and later the Ministry of Defense. The Blue Room (Salon Azul) was the meeting place of the Legislature of El Salvador from 1906, and its classical architecture with Ionian, Corinthian and Roman elements is notable. The room is now called the  Salvadoran Parliament in commemoration of its former purpose, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
caption: National Palace (El Salvador)
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