Leyends and Traditions Nicaragua

Legends

Nicaragua has a great amount of legends and popular stories, many of them of pre-Columbian origin and others that are adaptations of old oral histories of Spaniards.

The conversation is an art for Nicaraguans. No wonder the great richness of his oral tradition.

Some of the popular characters of the so-called legends are: The Nahua cart, the father without the head, the blind, the dirty, the armchair and the horse of Colonel arrechavala. Today it is still a very important tradition in the villages to tell these legends to children to entertain or frighten them.

There are also some mythical characters in the different areas of the country such as the lady of the lake in Granada, the ghost of the castle of the Immaculate in the river San Juan, the siren of the green lagoon in Ometepe.

In Nicaragua also the phantom legends abound and the belief in the magic is quite frequent in some zones.

Curanderismo is something that is still practiced and is very common in the village of niquinohomo and also among the indigenous Mayangnas and Misquitos, who generally prefer to go to their traditional shamans rather than to regular medicine, in which they do not believe or trust.

Traditions

Among other things, Nicaraguans are great lovers of parties, it is very often that they hold meetings in the houses for any reason: birthdays, weddings, farewells, welcome, etc.

Also, a very frequent form of fun for Nicaraguans is to spend the day in recreational or rural centers where they go with the whole family to spend a quiet time eating, drinking and talking.

And finally, one of the most important social activities are the candles of the deceased, usually given in the houses themselves and with the deceased body present. They gather huge numbers of people and talk for hours while family members serve coffee, bread or soft drinks.