In 1976 a major earthquake caused widespread devastation in Comalapa and took the lives of 3500 inhabitants. The Iglesia San Juan Bautista, the town's oldest church and a survivor of four previous quakes, was mostly toppled but later rebuilt. Scenes from the earthquake and other events appear on a major set of murals – at 184m reputedly the country's longest – that cover the walls along the southern approach.
Painted by students in 2002, the panels allude to the origins of Maya culture and envision a possible future.
