Santo Domingo de Guzman

Santo Domingo de Guzman, known locally by its Nahuat name Witzapan, is among the very few places in El Salvador where Nahuat is still spoken as a first language, by a small number of elderly speakers, and where teaching programmes have been set up to pass it on to children. The village is also a pottery centre: comales, the flat clay griddles used for tortillas, and other vessels are hand-built and open-fired by women in workshops through the village, using local clay, and can be watched and bought at source. Below the village a gorge holds a series of waterfalls, El Escuco and others, reached on a short walk with local guides.

What you actually see

• Pottery workshops - the hand-built comales and open firing.
• Nahuat language work - the teaching programmes and the remaining speakers.
• The waterfalls - the falls in the gorge below the village.
• The village - the small settlement and its plaza.

When to go

November to April in the dry season for the waterfall walk. Weekday mornings are when the potters work. Language classes and cultural events run irregularly; ask locally.

Honest expectations

Nahuat speakers are few and elderly, and the language is not heard casually in the street. Workshop visits are informal and depend on who is working. The waterfall path is steep and needs a guide. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Sonsonate lies south; Juayua and the Ruta de las Flores are north.