Plaza Barrios

Lonely Planet review

The main plaza is called Plaza Barrios and dedicated to a former president and crusader for the separation of church and state. There is a statue of Barrios astride a horse in the middle of the plaza, turned to face the cathedral and streaked (of course) with pigeon shit. The Palacio Nacional is on the west side of the plaza and all the trees have been removed directly in front of it - the view is clear, but the stone-paved plaza can get hot in the afternoon as a result.

Plaza Barrios is where most political protests begin or end (on our last visit, a group of family members and advocates for imprisoned gang members took control of the cathedral to protest new highly restrictive incarceration laws - they left peacefully after a few days).The plaza is relatively safe, but always be aware of your surroundings and don't linger after dark. And it's probably best not to bring your camera - though you'll regret not being able to capture some of the scenes down there! Foreigners are already a rare sight downtown - you may be the only one when you visit - and it's just not worth drawing the extra attention to yourself.