Puente de los Esclavos

OVERVIEW

A stone bridge over the Río de los Esclavos on the old royal road to El Salvador, begun on 17 February 1592 under the Guatemalan cabildo and built by enslaved Africans and Xinca labourers — the name records that. About 75 m long and, in its day, the largest structure in Central America, it has carried traffic for over four centuries and is protected as cultural heritage of the nation. Tropical Storm Agatha undermined its footings in May 2010; conservation appeals continue.

HISTORY

The bridge is the surviving piece of a road that moved indigo and silver between the capital and San Salvador. The enslaved workforce is documented in the colonial record; the town of Cuilapa holds an annual zarabanda at the bridge.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The legend, told in Cuilapa and printed by the Ministry of Culture and the national press: the overseer, unable to finish the work, sold his soul to the devil to have it completed in a single night; the devil kept the bargain, the overseer cheated him, and the devil in his rage tore out a section — the arch that, the story goes, has never stayed repaired. The damaged span is real; its cause is water.

VISITING

Freely visible from the modern road bridge beside it at Los Esclavos, south-east of Cuilapa.