Ilobasco is a district in the
Cabañas department of
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. It is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of the capital,
San Salvador
San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...
.
History
The
Pipil people later conquered the territory at the end of the 15th century. It was organized as a town in 1600, with the name of San Miguel de Xilobasco or Ilobasco, when the first church was built in its center.
At the same time, the settlement of families of Hispanic origin in the town caused growth, becoming a parish around 1770, until January 18, 1871, when it was granted the city category after the Independence process.
Ilobasco has a valuable architectural heritage, which has endured over time, as well as its crafts, being one of the major local tourist attraction in El Salvador.
Culture
Ilobasco is known locally and internationally for its
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
(other materials also used) craftsmanship or
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
.
[Encyclopædia Britannic]
http://www.britannica.com/bps/topic/283164/Ilobasco
/ref> The clay is extracted and prepared locally. The clay work includes the "miniatures", which are small representations of daily scenes as lived by Salvadorans, no bigger than 2 inches tall. One version of the miniatures are the "surprises", which are basically a scene covered with another piece of clay shaped and painted in the form of a fruit, an egg, a house or other things. The cover can be removed and then the scene can be seen.
Toponymy
The actual origin and meaning of its name is unknown, most of the proposed names are nahuatl
Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
, such as: ''Xilohuako'' (Place of Dry Young-Corn), ''Xilotlaxko'' (Place of Young-Corn Tortilla), or ''Xilotazoko'' (Place of Young-Corn Clay). A document found in December 1859 affirms that the name is of Nawat origin and it means "Golden Thread," but origin of this word is unknown.
Sports
The local football club is El Roble, formerly known as A.F.I. They currently play in the Salvadoran Second Division.
External links
Pictures from the city of IlobascoGoogle Satellite View of IlobascoIlobasco Ceramic Capital of the World
by: Miranda
Ilobasco TourismEl Salvador News
Notes
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the Cabañas Department