- Altagracia
Altagracia is a
municipality in the Rivas department ofNicaragua . It is the second largest city on the island ofOmetepe . Its original name was Astagalpa, meaning ‘house of the herons’ in Náhuatl.History
Altagracia is home to a Cathedral which was built in 1924. The city has recently installed a
sculpture park next to the cathedral that contains important pre-Columbian art made frombasalt rock. The figures are of great size, and represent human figures and theiralter egos , mainly theeagle andjaguar . The pre-Columbian basalt rock figures are estimated to be from thenineteenth century .Also present in Altagracia is the Museum of Ometepe ("Museo de Ometepe") with a large
archaeological andethnographic collection.Tradition
The city patron is San Diego de Alcalá and his festival, Fiesta de San Diego, is celebrated from November 12-18. [http://www.vianica.com/visit/ometepe Explore Nicaragua: Ometepe Island ] ] The traditional dance called "baile del Zompopo" is performed on the 17th of November. This tradition is mixed with the celebration of
Xolotl , who inhabited Nicaragua inpre-Colombian times before the Spaniards arrived. When theFranciscan arrived in Ometepe in1613 , 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.ee also
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Ometepe
*Tourism in Nicaragua
*Charco Verde Nature Reserve References
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