Western Regional Museum — Attraction in Santa Ana

Avoid.

Admission prices are not posted anywhere at the entrance. However, for foreigners it is currently three US dollars which, ironically for a former bank building, amounts to daylight robbery.

What do you get for this entry price? The main floor is entirely dedicated to children and of no interest to adults. The small lower floor contains a good display of El Salvadoran bank notes from various periods. The Spanish language captions are basic, essentially showing the transition from non-currency forms of payment, to banknotes depicting agricultural practices, to those representing a more industrialised economy. The top floor contains very basic exhibits on four or five themes, including Catholicism and the importance of maize. The only vaguely interesting panel concerns the attractive Teatro in town, though even this is basic and pitched primarily...

Great, very detailed, very informative museum right at Centro of Santa Ana. Didn't have it marked on my maps but walked past it once and we were so glad we went in. Not sure if it's customary that you'll get a guide but a staff member got another staff member and she guided us from beginning to end in English. We very much appreciated that as it put a lot of context to the things we were looking at. She also offered for us to see the history of their currency downstairs in the old bank vault 🙀 Everything was so cool so we highly recommend you stop by here!!

PS: they may or may not have the a/c on so bring a fan if in case it was off that...

I really enjoyed this museum. For 3 usd, a young person will give you a guided tour starting from the indigenous history, to its difficult colonial past, to the country's independence and the plight of the women in particular. The museum ends with a visit to the ancient money systems used (including the cacao bean), the colon, prior to changing officially to the usd in 2001. You can see what the previous bills looked like. Definitely...