Destinations >> Ocotal

Located in the central region of the country some 226 kilometers (140 miles) from Managua, in highlands dotted with plateaus from 1000 to 2000 meters (3,281 to 6,562 feet) above sea level, the capital of the department of Nueva Segovia is the city of Ocotal, close to the Las Manos customs and migration post at the Honduran border.

In this land of pines, the economy is based on farming of basic grains, coffee, cattle, timber and tobacco.

The current Ciudad Antigua is the second Nueva Ciudad de Segovia, after the first city of the same name, founded in 1543 by the Spanish captain Diego de Castañeda, near the merger of the Coco and Jicaro Rivers by the town of Quilali.

The first Nueva Ciudad de Segovia was moved in 1611 to a spot near the Arrayan River, where Ciudad Antigua stands today. The ruins of the first Nueva Ciudad de Segovia, in the Quilali region, are known by the name of Ciudad Vieja. This settlement was attacked by indigenous people in 1610 and later by pirates and invaders.

The current Ciudad Antigua gained notoriety in 1927 and 1932, when it was the refuge for the “General of Free Men”, Augusto C. Sandino, who was one of the first guerilleros of America that confronted U.S. intervention in the country at that time.

The ruins of Ciudad Antigua are one of the great tourist attractions in this area, as they reveal – despite all the time that has passed – more than one hundred cultural relics, both sacred and profane, in its church, one of the oldest and most beautiful in America. Now, in the renovated church, it is still possible to appreciate an interesting painting of Spanish ships arriving in the interior of Nicaragua by way of the Coco River.

There is also a museum with an interesting collection of religious objects and art as well as some pre-Columbian pieces.

At the foot of its hills, there are many villages which still have vestiges of the Spanish influence. Adobe and clay houses are common, with tile roofs, outside passageways and clay ovens.

The Corn Festival is celebrated in Jalapa. It is a very creative festival with a variety of foods, beverages and sweets all based on corn, an essential ingredient in the Nicaraguan diet. One of the features of this festival is that the Festival Queen wears a dress made of popcorn.

Other places that should be mentioned are: Mount Mogoton – the highest point in Nicaragua (2,107 meters or 6,913 feet high) and its beautiful scenery, the Dipilto y Jalapa Range and the thermal waters of Aguas Calientes.

Other important towns are: Macuelizo, San Fernando, El Jicaro, Jalapa, Murra, Quilali, Santa María, Dipilto, Mozonte and Ciudad Antigua.

Tourist Attractions

Historical: Ocotal, Dipilto, Ciudad Antigua, El Jicaro, El Chipote Mountain.

Scenic: Sierras de Dipilto, Valle de Jalapa; Poteca River Canyon.

Ecological: Mogoton Summit and the Dipilto y Jalapa Range which has been declared a natural reserve.

Church of Ciudad Antigua
Although its façade was rebuilt decades ago, the church of Ciudad Antigua does honor to the name of the town. The church – which resisted the attacks and looting of several pirate incursions in the seventeenth century – still holds many liturgical objects and ornaments in its museum, some dating back to those hazardous times. One can still see the sacristan’s door that was burnt by the buccaneers in 1688, in their last failed attempt to loot the silver in the church.