El Viejo is a city and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Chinandega Chinandega () is a city and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is Nicaragua's 2nd most important city (economy) and 6th largest ...

department of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

Overview

El Viejo is a small city near the city of

, noted for its particular gastronomic specialties, which include ''rosquillas'' ( a type of doughnut), ''cajetas'' (a type of

dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (), caramelized milk, milk candy, or milk jam is a confection commonly consumed after slowly heating sugar and milk over several hours. The substance takes on a spreadable, sauce-like consistency and derives its rich flavour ...

), ''bollitos de leche'' (a kind of

scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...

), and a fruit particular to the region called the toncua, which is related to the

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within ...

and is eaten with

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

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 image was crowned by the Pope in May 1989 via decree from December 1988. The church was elevated to the status of national religious sanctuary on 8 October 1995, and was declared a minor basilica on February 7, 1996, by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, during his second visit to Nicaragua. The basilica possesses a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

dating from 1560, and also possesses a little statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. Tradition states that Fray Pedro de Zepeda y Ahumada, brother of Teresa of Avila, traveling to El Realejo 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. On December 6 of every year, the silver that is part of the little statue is washed before congregants in a ceremony called the ''lavado de la plata''. The city is twinned with

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Notable people

* Joaquín del Cossío, Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua * Hermógenes L. Mora (1979 -), poet and author * Vicente Padilla (1977 -), Major Baseball League player * Roberto Sacasa (1840–1896), President of Nicaragua

External links

Norwich Council page on twinning with El Viejo

References

Municipalities of the Chinandega Department {{Nicaragua-geo-stub