Los Esclavos River

Río Los Esclavos
Bridge over Los Esclavos river
Origin	Mataquescuintla (Santa Rosa) 14°28′28″N 90°14′35″W / 14.47444°N 90.24306°W / 14.47444; -90.24306 (Sources of the Río Los Esclavos)
Mouth	Laguna de Sipacate 13°50′20″N 90°19′46″W / 13.83889°N 90.32944°W / 13.83889; -90.32944 (Mouth of the Río Los Esclavos)
Basin countries	Guatemala
Length	145 km
Source elevation	2000 m
Mouth elevation	0 m
Avg. discharge	15.8 m³/s (La Sonrisa)
Basin area	Pacific

The Río Los Esclavos is a river in Southern Guatemala. Its sources are located in the mountains in the southeast of the department of Santa Rosa. From there it flows past the town of Cuilapa through the coastal plains of Santa Rosa into the Laguna de Sipacate and then into the Pacific Ocean.^[1]

The Los Esclavos river basin covers a territory of 2,271 km^2[2]

Los Esclavos Bridge

Bridge over Los Esclavos river in 1897.

A bridge was built over this river during the Spanish Colony, thanks to the initiative of Baltazar de Orena^{[Note 1]} from Valle Town Hall and governor Pedro Mayen de la Rueda, who proposed its construction in 1579. The bridge was completed in 1592 under the director of architects Francisco Tirado and Diego Felipe.^[3] Years later, some repair were needed, and criollo poet and leader Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán was in charge of the work.^{[3][Note 2]}

Back in those days, all merchandise that came to Santiago de los Caballeros city, the capital city, came through Acajutla harbor, and the bridge was built to avoid the inconveniences that occurred whenever the river was too high. The river has 128 yards in length and 18 yards accros.^[3] It was build above eleven arches^[3] and, with almost five hundred years, still stands in spite of the strong current and the earthquakes and storms that have damaged the rest of Guatemalan infrastructure.

Gallery

• Media related to Los Esclavos river at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Los Esclavos bridge at Wikimedia Commons

References

Bibliography

Notes