Santa Tecla, El Salvador

Santa Tecla
From top, left to right: Iglesia El Carmen, Palacio Municipal de Santa Tecla, Paseo El Carmen.
From top, left to right: Iglesia El Carmen, Palacio Municipal de Santa Tecla, Paseo El Carmen.
Coat of arms of Santa Tecla
Nickname(s): 
Tecla, Nueva San Salvador
Motto: 
¡Inseparable de Ti!
Santa Tecla is located in El Salvador
Santa Tecla
Santa Tecla
Coordinates: 13°40′23″N 89°14′26″W / 13.67306°N 89.24056°W / 13.67306; -89.24056
Country El Salvador
DepartmentLa Libertad Department
MetroSan Salvador Metropolitan Area
Town8 August 1854 as Nueva San Salvador
City1 January 1856
Department Capital21 January 1865
Renamed as Santa Tecla1 January 2004
Government
 • TypeDemocratic, Mayor-Council Municipality
 • MayorHenry Flores (Nuevas Ideas)
Area
 • Municipality112.2 km2 (43.32 sq mi)
 • Urban
9.0 km2 (5.5 sq mi)
Elevation
931 m (3,053.6 ft)
Population
 (2020)
 • Municipality139,908
 • Density1,902/km2 (36,200/sq mi)
 • Urban
124,938
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central Standard Time)
SV-LI
CP 1501
Area code+ 503
HDI (2007)0.821 – very high[1]
Websitehttp://www.santatecladigital.gob.sv//

Santa Tecla (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanta ˈtekla]) is a city and a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of La Libertad.[2]

The city was named after Saint Thecla who was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul of Tarsus in the 1st century AD. She is not mentioned in the New Testament, but the earliest record of her comes from the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, probably composed in the early 2nd century.

Santa Tecla is situated at the southern foot of the San Salvador Volcano, and it is a part of the San Salvador metropolitan area. The municipality of Antiguo Cuscatlán sits on its eastern border.

  1. ^ "Prevención y atención de la violencia hacia las mujeres : Experiencia de Santa Tecla" (PDF). Un-instraw.org. Retrieved October 15, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Santa Tecla, Cronología" ISBN 99923-0-141-4 Recopilada por Dr. Juan José Contreras Callejas, Mauricio Alvarado Cea Campo, Ángela Margarita Alvarado: Consejo National para la Cultura y el arte, CONCULTURA, San Salvador 2004