Destinations >> Masaya

Masaya, the smallest and most densely populated department in all of Nicaragua, is located 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Managua. Its capital city has the same name and is 29 kilometers (18 miles) from Managua.

The town of Masaya was established around the time of Nicaragua’s independence, as the “Royal Village of San Fernando of Masaya”. It was part of the Oriente department for many years, until it became a separate department in 1883. It has nine municipalities: Masaya, Nindiri, Catarina, San Juan de Oriente, Masatepe, Nandasmo, Niquinohomo, Tisma and La Concepcion. The latter has the most developed hotel and restaurant infrastructure. They all enjoy scenic splendor, a mild climate, lush vegetation and deep cultural roots in mestizaje, manifest in their gastronomy and crafts.

All of these towns may be reached by paved roads, with the exception of Tisma.

The department of Masaya is the center of Nicaraguan folklore and crafts and so it is to be expected that its crafts market is the largest in the country. In 1999, the city was named the “Capital of Nicaraguan Folklore”, and it is also known as the “City of Flowers”.

Masaya is a town where the folklore is experienced intensely, and it is a center for typical foods, crafts and many religious festivals. Every Thursday, a folk fair is held under the slogan, “Let’s Go to Masaya”. It offers the best of our music and dance as well as many traditional crafts and folk art items such as hammocks, embroidered dresses, fine crafted leatherwork, wooden crafts, sculpted masks, and pottery. Also visit the crafts workshops in the indigenous neighborhood of Monimbo, where you can watch skilled craftspeople at work and obtain souvenirs in the local shops.

The tourist options could not be better as there is such a short distance between the destinations: the Masaya Volcano National Park, the Masaya and Apoyo Crater Lakes, the overlook from the Hotel Lagos y Volcanes, the picturesque towns and the El Chocoyero-El Brujo Reserve.

The folk art industries of Monimbo and the so-called Pueblos Blancos (White Towns) are also noteworthy.

Tourist Attractions

Historical: El Coyotepe Fort, Masaya’s churches and central park, the crafts market, Monimbo neighborhood, the churches of Nindiri and Niquinohomo.

Scenic: The Masaya Volcano National Park and its craters, caves, lava fields and hiking trails; the Masaya and Apoyo Crater Lakes; the scenic overlook in Caterina; the roadway between Ticuantepe-La Concepcion-San Marcos.

Ecological: The vegetation of the Masaya Volcano, semi-humid forests in the piedmont and ravines of the Mesa de Los Pueblos.

The Church of San Jeronimo (St. Jerome)

This church houses the miraculous image of the patron saint of Masaya. Its architecture is simple yet elegant, with one tower on the façade and an apse topped with a dome. The church was damaged in the earthquake that shook the city in mid-2000, but has been completely restored.

Masaya Volcano National Park

This is a double volcano – Masaya and Nindiri – which offers five volcanic cones. It is one of the main volcanic attractions for visitors to Central America. The park’s primary feature is the Santiago Crater, which is open at the summit alongside the Plaza de Oviedo. Although the crater formed in the middle of the nineteenth century, the volcano has been continuously active since the time of the Spanish conquest, emitting lava and sulphuric gases.

The paved road that winds through the park passes solidified lava boulders and lush patches of tropical forest on its way to the Santiago Crater. This volcano is 635 meters (2,083 feet) high and 570 meters (1,870 feet) across at its widest point. On the road to the top, you will also find an Environmental Interpretation Center with exhibits and a souvenir shop, where you may request a guided tour around the trails that traverse the park. Four hundred meters (1,312 feet) down into the crater is an internal pit that constantly emits sulphuric gases and acid, which are swept away toward the Pacific by the winds. The walls of the crater provide a fascinating look at the nests of birds that have adapted to life in the midst of the gases emitted by the volcano.

Apoyo Crater Lake

Visible from the Catarina Overlook, this lake occupies the bottom of a giant crater measuring six kilometers (3.7 miles) across, opened by a catastrophic eruption 21,000 years ago. Its depth is estimated at greater than 250 meters (820 feet). The waters are somewhat salty, which explains the crater lake’s indigenous name of “atl-poyec”.

Bobadilla’s Cross

On the peak of the hill next to the crater of the Masaya Volcano is a cross, in the same spot where a similar cross was raised in 1528 by the zealous Mercedarian friar, Francisco de Bobadilla, in order to exorcise the devil. Bobadilla baptized the volcano with the name "The Mouth of Hell".