Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Masaya & Los Pueblos Blancos Highlights
Shop till you drop at the country's most famous handicraft market, the
Mercado Artesanías
(
Click here
), in Masaya
Watch history repeat itself as potters in the workshops of
San Juan de Oriente
(
Click here
)
continue the centuries-old craft of ceramics production
Take a dip in the
Laguna de Apoyo
(
Click here
), said to be the cleanest water in the whole
country
Peer into that gorgeous lagoon from the spectacular lookouts at
Catarina (
Click here
)
and
Diriá (
Click here
)
Drive to the 'gates of hell,' then take a full-moon hike up gassy, tempestuous
Volcán Masaya
(
Click here
)
Pioneer virgin waves in lost beach towns like
La Boquita
(
Click here
) and
Casares (
Click
here
)
History
A thriving population center long before the arrival of the Spanish, Masaya and the net-
work of small towns that surround it show signs of Chorotega inhabitation for at least the
last 3000 years. While Masaya is without doubt the modern-day regional center, in pre-Co-
lombian times the tiny town of Diriá was the Chorotega capital, a place where 28 chieftains
would meet every seven years to elect a new leader.
The region's claim to fame,
artesanías
(handicrafts), has a long tradition, too - as far
back as 1548 the Spanish required Masaya to provide hammocks and shoes for the colon-
izers as a tribute.
Masaya gained official status as a town in 1819, predating Nicaraguan independence by
only two years. The delay was most likely due to the fierce fighting spirit of the locals -
their opposition to the Spanish in 1529, William Walker in 1856, US Marines in 1912 and
the Guardia Nacional throughout the revolution is legendary.
These last skirmishes took a particular toll on the region, none more so than when, in
1977, the Masaya suburb of Monimbó rose up against Somoza forces. During the struggle
much of the town's colonial architecture was destroyed. As if that weren't enough, a
massive earthquake in 2000 badly damaged the majority of the remaining historical build-
ings, many of which today await funding in order to be properly restored.
