Editing Sonsonate Department (section)

==History==
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It is located 65 kilometers from San Salvador and at an elevation of 225 meters. It is situated along the Centzunat, Sensunapan, or Grande River of Sonsonate. It is connected to the capital and the Port of Acajutla by modern highways, as well as to Santa Ana and Ahuachapán.

Sonsonate was founded in 1552 by Antonio Rodriguez, initially named Villa del Sagrado Espíritu. In 1553, Pedro Ramírez de Quiñones and Bishop Francisco Marroquín renamed it Villa de la Santísima Trinidad. On April 1, 1824, it was granted city status, and on June 12 of the same year, it became the departmental capital. In 1834, it served as the capital of the Central American Federation under President Senator José Gregorio Salazar.

Its parochial church, while inspired by colonial style, dates from after independence, having been blessed on April 1, 1887. The church of Santo Domingo, constructed with calicanto, brick, and tile, was built in 1726 under the patronage of the Santo Ángel de la Guarda. From 1834, it was home to the federal authorities of Central America, and from 1841 to 1846, it housed a secondary school directed by Friar Jerónimo Zelaya.

In the park “Rafael Campos,” a column with a marble bust of ex-president Rafael Campos (1813–1890) was erected in 1913. He was known as the “Salvadoran Aristides”. During his administration, the first map of El Salvador (1858) was created. The national army, under the command of General Ramón Belloso, fought and defeated William Walker's filibusters in the battles of Masaya and Granada, Nicaragua.

Sonsonate is a corruption of Centzunat, a Pipil word meaning "Big River" and literally “Four hundred waters”.