Zapatera

Zapatera is formed by the same name no longer active shield volcano 52 km ² island in the northwest of Lake Nicaragua, which is located in the south of Nicaragua.

Geography

It is the second largest island in the lake to Ometepe. The maximum of 7 km wide and 10 km long, the island is part of the Department of Granada and in the same municipality ( municipio ) and is since 1983 one of 78 national parks, the Parque Nacional Zapatera Archipelago. The only place is on the south shore of the island Sonzapote who are residents Chorotega. At the 2005 census the island had 566 inhabitants.

The island is mostly hilly and covered with vegetation, the highest point is the Cerro Grande. The interior is composed of dense forest, the extent of which, however, has declined over the years due to deforestation and pasture. On the north side of the island there is a lagoon with a diameter of about 600 meters. Around the island there are several small islands that make up the Archipelago Zapatera, the most important being El Muerto, Jesús Grandes, El Platano and El Armado.

When the 639 -meter-high volcano last erupted, is not known. Its creation occurred in the Holocene. The caldera is about 2 km in diameter and located near the center of the island.

The only place on the island is Sonzapote whose inhabitants of agriculture and some tourism live. The small town was only founded in the 1980s when a group of farmers moved to Zapatera; they had to be asked after the Sandinista revolution country. Later the church was abandoned because of the excesses of the Contras. In 1994, some families back to this area. Currently, the community survived thanks to an agreement with the Ministry of Environment.

Fauna

The fauna is diverse. There are primates and parrots; rare, but still present are armadillos, deer and jaguars. There are numerous species of birds: among other hawks, toucans and kingfishers. The waters are rich in fish, among them the native cichlid Parachromis managuensis.

Archaeological legacies

On Zapatera, there are several archaeological sites, demonstrating that pre-Columbian peoples inhabited the area. There are rock paintings and stone carvings. Sculptures represent human and animal figures that refer to customs and religion of the ancient population Chorotega. The sculptures are now in the monastery of San Francisco in Granada Casa de los Tres Mundos.

The first report of pre-Columbian artifacts of the island has been published in a paper of 1852 by the U.S. archaeologist and diplomat Ephraim George Squier. The researchers had explored the northeast of the island in 1849 and several petroglyphs found. The first excavations were carried out by the Swedish naturalist Carl Bovallius in 1883, he discovered many artifacts, including 25 statues in the field of Sonzapote, and he published his studies in two papers in 1886 and 1887. Some of the objects are now in the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm shown. Later, the Mexican scholar Felipe Pardines interested in the archaeological zone. In the thirties of the twentieth century, he published a series of articles in which he showed new footage of the island and the neighboring islands such as El Muerto.

Mythology

According to legend, the islands of Ometepe and Zapatera and Nicaragua from a tragic love story emerged: so, the highly Nagrando fell in love with the beautiful daughter of a neighboring tribe chieftain named Ometeptl. Both Indian tribes, however, were at odds over territorial claims and questions of power. By law, the ancestors of a love between warring tribes was forbidden. The couple had therefore soon flee from their home villages and hidden in a valley. As their love but did not remain concealed, they were pursued by their tribesmen. Finally, until they decided to commit suicide out of despair and opened up the arteries. Ometeptl fell backwards, Nagrando staggered a few steps and also fell down. The blood of both filled in the valley and covered her body - the present-day Nicaragua. From Ometeptls body protrude only her breasts above the water level, today's volcanoes Concepcion and Maderas. From the body Nagrandos one sees only something removed, the tips of the island of Zapatera.