Esquipulas

Introducing Esquipulas

From Chiquimula, Hwy 10 goes south into the mountains, where it’s a bit cooler. After an hour’s ride through pretty country, the highway descends into a valley ringed by mountains, where Esquipulas stands. Halfway down the slope, about a kilometer from the center of town, there is a mirador (lookout) from which to get a good view. The reason for a trip to Esquipulas is evident as soon as you catch sight of the place, dominated by the great Basílica de Esquipulas towering above the town, its whiteness shimmering in the sun. The view has changed little in over 150 years since explorer John L Stephens saw it and described it in his book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and ­Yucatan (1841) :

Descending, the clouds were lifted, and I looked down upon an almost boundless plain, running from the foot of the Sierra, and afar off saw, standing alone in the wilderness, the great church of Esquipulas, like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the Caaba in Mecca, the holiest of temples…I had a long and magnificent descent to the foot of the Sierra.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009