El Viejo
Encyclopedia
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Chinandega
Chinandega (department)
Chinandega is a department in Nicaragua, located on the border with Honduras. It covers an area of 4,926 km² and has a population of 441,300...
department
Departments of Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a unitary republic, and for administrative purposes, it is divided into 15 departments and two self-governing regions based on the Spanish model:-Zelaya Department:...
of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
.
El Viejo is a small city near the city of Chinandega
Chinandega
Chinandega is a town and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city has a population of 121,793 inhabitants with 151,000 in the municipality...
, noted for its particular gastronomic specialties, which include rosquillas (a type of doughnut), cajetas (a type of dulce de leche
Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
), bollitos de leche (a kind of scone
Scone (bread)
The scone is a small Scottish quick bread especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,Belgium and Ireland, but are also eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent...
), and a fruit particular to the region called the toncua, which is related to the papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
and is eaten with honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
.
El Viejo is also the site of a colonial-era church, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in El Viejo (Basílica Inmaculada Concepción de María en El Viejo), built in the 17th century. The church was elevated to the status of national religious sanctuary on October 8, 1995, and was declared a minor basilica on February 7, 2006 by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, during his second visit to Nicaragua.
The basilica possesses a baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
dating from 1560, and also possesses a little statue of the Virgin Mary. Tradition states that Fray Pedro de Zepeda y Ahumada, brother of Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
, traveling to El Realejo
El Realejo
El Realejo is a municipality in the Chinandega department of Nicaragua. The town of El Realejo was constructed in 1532, during the first years of Spanish colonization. During this period it served as Nicaragua's principal port, and remained so until the beginning of the 17th century, when pirate...
with the image, was forced to go to El Viejo due to a storm. The people of El Viejo were so taken by it that they wished for the image to stay in their town. However, Zepeda y Ahumada set off once more for El Realejo, but a second storm forced him back to El Viejo. Thus, he decided that this was a sign of divine intervention and left the image in El Viejo.
The city is twinned with Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.