Citalá
district in Northern Chalatenango, El Salvador
Citalá is a district in the Chalatenango Department of El Salvador. In the Nahuat language its name means “the river of the stars”. In the Mayan Ch'orti' language it's referred to as Kujkaijá. As of 2013, it had a population of 4,270.
Geography
It is 47 km from Chalatenango and in the suburbs of the frontier of Honduras. It has an elevation of 788 meters over sea level and is 119 km from San Salvador.
Main sights
Church del Pilar-Citalá
The Church del Pilar-Citalá possibly built at the end of the 17th century or at the beginning of the 18th century. It is not known who built it.
Its architecture possesses a neoclassical style. The church is surrounded by an atrium that in turn is surrounded by an iron gate.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Citalá” as district in Northern Chalatenango, El Salvador. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as district in Northern Chalatenango, El Salvador. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1154046. Authority coordinates are 14.375, -89.214. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Citalá”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Citalá primary sources, Citalá archive and Citalá research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Citalá”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Citalá” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.