Casa Presidencial, Presidential office building in San Benito, San Salvador, El Salvador
Casa Presidencial is the former presidential office building in the San Jacinto neighbourhood of San Salvador, now abandoned since the 2001 earthquakes. It was designed largely by Luis Fleury in a mix of Classic and Art Nouveau styles, built of reinforced concrete, and finished in 1921. Four classical marble statues imported from Italy in 1900 stand at the site, and the building is surrounded by four parks named after Juan José Cañas, Felipe Soto, Venustiano Carranza and Miguel de Cervantes.
Construction of the building began in 1911 after the government acquired the Quinta Natalia property under President Manuel Enrique Araujo. In the early 1930s it was transformed into the presidential headquarters under General Hernández Martínez.
The main halls display paintings created between 1957 and 1959 by Chilean artist Luis Vergara Ahumada. These artworks decorated the space during a period when it functioned as the center of governmental power.
The San Jacinto building has been abandoned since the January and February 2001 earthquakes, so it cannot be visited inside. The president's offices now operate at No. 5500 Manuel Enrique Araujo Highway in Colonia San Benito, the former country club and later Foreign Ministry site. The old mansion stands south of the capital near the El Zapote barracks, surrounded by four parks named after José Cañas, Felipe Soto, Venustiano Carranza and Miguel de Cervantes.
The building was finished in 1921 but only began operating as the Normal School for Boys in 1924; its completion was delayed by the 1917 and 1919 earthquakes and by the First World War. The design is largely the work of Luis Fleury, who combined Classic and Art Nouveau styles.
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