: : : Altagracia () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Rivas Department Rivas () is a department of the Republic of Nicaragua. It covers an area of 2,162 km2 and has a population of 183,611 (2021 estimate). The department's capital is the city of Rivas. Overview Rivas is known for its fertile soil and beautif ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. It is the second largest town on the island of

Ometepe Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ''ome'' (two) and ''tepetl'' (mountain), meaning "two mountains". It is the largest island in Lake Nic ...

. Its original name was Astagalpa, meaning ‘house of the herons’ in Nahuatl. This city also has a ferry port, Puerto de Gracia, that services Granada and San Carlos near the Rio San Juan. However, due to seasonal water level fluctuations, this port and the nightly ferry crossings are often seasonally cancelled.

History

Altagracia is home to a cathedral which was built in 1924. The city has recently installed a

sculpture park A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaping, landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be privat ...

next to the cathedral that contains important pre-Columbian art made from

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

rock. The figures are of great size, and represent human figures and their

alter egos An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

, mainly the

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

and jaguar. Also present in Altagracia is the Museum of Ometepe (''Museo de Ometepe'') with a large

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

collection.

Tradition

The city patron is San Diego de Alcalá and his festival, Fiesta de San Diego, is celebrated from November 12–18.Explore Nicaragua: Ometepe Island
/ref> The traditional dance called ''baile del Zompopo'' is performed on the 17th of November. This tradition is mixed with the celebration of

Xolotl In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine broth ...

, who inhabited Nicaragua in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

times before the Spaniards arrived. When the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

arrived in Ometepe in 1613, this tradition was already existent, although they brought with themselves an image of San Diego de Alcalá and with time they obtained his figure and replaced Xolotl.

Gallery

File:Finca Magdalena Altagracia and Concepcion.jpg, View from Finca Magdalena in Altagracia, Rivas. The Concepción volcano in the background. File:Santo Domingo I.jpg, Playa Santo Domingo. The Maderas volcano in the background. File:Ojo de Agua Altagracia.jpg, Ojo de Agua, Altagracia, in Ometepe Island.

References

External links

* Municipalities of the Rivas Department {{Nicaragua-geo-stub

History

Tradition

Gallery

See also

References

External links