Masaya Nicaragua – "Capital of Nicaraguan Folklore"Masaya Nicaragua - The first settlers of Masaya were Mexican emigrants from Chorotega. They where given the name Dirianes for the region they settled at the top of the mountains. The origin of the name Masaya has three versions: 2) means "Place between several waters or lagoons"and 3) the last version of the chronicler Oviedo and Valdés assures that in language chorotega there means "Mountain that burns ", due to the volcano Masaya. Oviedo and Valdés, who was visiting in 1529 the settlements of Nindirí and Masaya, testified that the lagoon was surrounded by more than 20 villages, dirianos, under authority of the chief Tenderí. Masaya Nicaragua and her historical neighbor Monimbó, were the most important indigenous centers of the tribe of the Dirianes. Tribes characterized for having painters of great imagination and colouring, creative craftsmen and big farmers. In 1819 the Spanish, found this fertile zone with a small village of “Villa Real de San Fernando de Masaya”, (San Fernando's Royal villa of Masaya ). In 1839, she receives the status of City. The narrow living together among two different cultures proved to be a colourful, smiling village, with deep-rooted traditions and great laboriousness which still preserves some primitive customs in her social and political life.
The department of Masaya is the smallest department of Nicaragua, Located to 20 km to the south of Managua with a surface of 590 square kilometres. Nevertheless she has the highest population density of 226 habitants/kmt2. Constituted by ten picturesque municipalities that are the following ones: Catarina, Tisma, Masatepe, Masaya, Nandasmo, Nindirí, Niquinohomo, San Juan de Oriente, Ticuantepe and La Concepción, being the latter the one that possesses the major development of hotel infrastructure and restaurants. They all enjoy great scenic beauty, benign climate, exuberant vegetation and deep cultural roots of the miscegenation, demonstrated across her gastronomy and crafts. The City of Masaya, " The City Of The Flowers ". is located to 28 km to the south of the capital with a population of 162.868 habitants. Occupies a surface of 142,6Km2 with a population density of 857 habitants/Km2. She is the capital of the Nicaraguan folklore! Due to the force, conservation and expression of the traditions and the cultural syncretism of this people.
Masaya Nicaragua plays a critical role within Nicaragua. She has an active manufacturing industry of agricultural products as: - tobacco (manufacture ofcigars), - leather products, - shoes, - soaps, - starch and processing ofnatural fibers. It is here you will find Nicaragua's premier handcraft market,making her the center of Nicaraguan crafts. Because of a greatcomponent of very strong pre-Columbian culture, one works fundamentallythe wood, the leather, the ceramics, the stones and the fabrics. When visiting Masaya Nicaragua she will find a people where the folklore lives with great intensity, from folklore dances, through typical gastronomy, religious festivities and popular pagan carnivals that re-live through former indigenous traditions. They intermingle throughout the year. Making Masaya an inevitable destination for thousands of national and foreign tourists. Example of this every September 30 in honor his holy boss San Jerónimo, is a very showy holiday with acts folklore and huge quantities of flowers adorning the city.
The city of Masaya Nicaragua offers an environment very hospitable characteristic of her people. The city relies on a wide variety of good quality services with its hotels, Internet Cafes, national and international restaurants, bars, discotheques, car rentals, private clinics, super markets together with a great selection of banks. Every Thursday a popular verbena (festival) is celebrated on the Market of Crafts under the name of ¨Vamos to Masaya¨. A sampling of the of our best music and dance, great quantity of artisan products and traditional manualidades, such as hammocks, embroidered garments, tapestries of mecate (rope), tooled leather, crafts of wood and masks (esculpidas). Visit also the workshops in Monimbó's indigenous neighborhood, where she will be able to share with the craftsmen the development of his work and acquire a beautiful souvenir.
Another great tourist attraction are Masaya's volcanoes and lagoons. La Laguna de Apoyo is Nicaragua's largest volanic lagoon at 21 km2. Then there is Tisma's Lagoon - Vida silestre's Refuge, a great area for bird watching, fishing and boating. The Volcanoe Masaya National Park featuring a great area of volcanic stone, tour the two cones sheltering 3 caters, 1 active and dormant containing some very attractive forests. Without a doubt, the department of Masaya Nicaragua offers both the national and foreign tourist numerous attractions not only of natural character and beauty, but also of her people, crafts and folklore, and fascinating historical past.
The department of Masaya Nicaragua is next door to the department of Managua and only 25 minutes from Managua on a newly constructed highway. By bus from Managua, you can catch the inter-local express minibuses from Metro-centro, opposite the Central American University (UCA). Or you can catch the big inter-city buses to Masatepe and Niquinohomo from the Mercado Roberto Huembes bus station. You will then get off at Catarina or San Juan de Oriente. If you get off at the bus depot in Masaya then take a bus to Pueblos Blancos For the Spanish version of Masaya Nicaragua click here. See what others have to say about Masaya Nicaragua here. Discover the Comunidad Nicaragua - Her Great Locations and People! |
