What are the traditions of Granada, Nicaragua?

In Granada, we celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or "Day of the Dead" on the 2^nd of November, and that is a very traditional celebration here. It is a day to remember your loved ones who have died. We visit their graves, clean them, and put flowers. You can even get a day off from work to be at the cemetery on that day and bring flowers to the graves of your loved ones. On this day, you will see a lot of people selling flowers in every corner of the city of Granada. The...

In Granada, we celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or "Day of the Dead" on the 2^nd of November, and that is a very traditional celebration here. It is a day to remember your loved ones who have died. We visit their graves, clean them, and put flowers. You can even get a day off from work to be at the cemetery on that day and bring flowers to the graves of your loved ones. On this day, you will see a lot of people selling flowers in every corner of the city of Granada. The whole town is full of flowers. The Day of the Dead is different from Halloween. It is not about costumes, but it is about remembering the people you love. It is a sad day where you will see a lot of people crying, remembering their loved ones who have passed away.

 

One tradition that is unique to Granada is to use a horse and carriage made of wood and glass for funerals. That is specific to Granada, and you will never see that in any other city in Nicaragua. They put the coffin along with flowers inside this box made of wood and glass. There is also a traditional flower arrangement for funerals. Then we take the coffin from the house to a church to have a Mass, since most Granadinos are Catholic. After the Mass, people walk with the family of the person who passed away, behind the carriage all the way to the cemetery. You will see the streets full of people. The traffic stops and nobody will pass until the carriage and all the people following the carriage have passed. You will see that on the main streets of Granada until they get to the cemetery. Anybody who knew the person can join the family.

 

There is also a car with a bull horn that goes around town to make a public announcement of the person’s death. They use that to announce the name of the person who passed away, so that anyone who knew the person may go to the funeral or the vela, which is when they go to the person’s house and stay there with the family all night until the next morning for the funeral. The family of the person who passed away rents chairs in order to accommodate the people who will come that night. Some people bring food, but it is very common in velas for the family to give out coffee and bread for the people who come. Some people bring coffee, bread, and sugar, so that the family has enough for everybody.

 

For weddings, we also use a horse and carriage, but of course it is different from the one used for funerals. The carriages used for weddings are usually white. They look like a princess carriage. Brides use a horse and carriage to take them from the house to the church where the wedding will be held. In Granada, we use a lot of horse and carriages for different things. We even use them for tours around the city.

 

We also have Via Cruz, which is a tradition that is unique to Granada. This is done on the lake, and happens during Holy Week. What people do is bring different statues of Jesus on the cross and they go around different islands with the Jesus statue on the little boats. This is like Stations of the Cross, but it is done on little boats and they go around the lake in a parade. Locals who live on the little islands on the lake always have little boats as their main mode of transportation. They use these boats to go around the lake for Via Cruz. They stop from one island to another and they sing and play some music.

 

(Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua, Lake Granada) with ferry approaching Moyogalpa, pictured.)