Federico Stories

On November 3 rd , 1658, there was a massive eruption in the San Salvador Volcano. The residents of the surroundings didn't expect it. The volcano had been inactive for centuries. Even the local Amerindians were shocked by such a catastrophic event. They thought this would be the end of their lives. What nobody knew is that at the top of the volcano, a battle was happening. Saint Jerome and the devil were fighting. The devil wanted to erase every Christian, living in the surroundings and Saint Jerome wanted to protect them. Saint Jerome had been chosen as their protector. After several hours, Saint Jerome stopped the devil, but at a great cost. The large majority of the most Christian town was gone for good. The lava covered the entire town. Saint Jerome from heaven guided the residents of the destroyed town to a new location. They called it, Nejapa which in Nawatl means, "River of Ashes." In this place, they started a new life, and they called this eruption, 'El Play...

Long ago, a dwarf called Dieguito arrived at Hawk Hill from some faraway lands. He decided to build his small cabin (figure 1) on its summit and planted some of the most beautiful flowers and lilies any person had ever seen. Figure 1. Dieguito, the dwarf.  ¹ Every person who walked around Dieguito’s lands was always impressed by the beauty of his flowers. They looked like something really exotic. They often asked him for their price and if he could sell them some. However, he always refused and never revealed where he had brought them from. On some occasions when Dieguito climbs down the hill with some flowers. If he met on that day an honest, young, and well well-behaved girl, he would give them a bunch of flowers and wild lilies, placing them at his feet. He immediately left after this without saying a word. Some girls felt flattered, but others were really annoyed and confused him with the mischievous Irish dwarf living in Cabañas. Credits: ¹  Heroes of Might & Magic II...

It was a normal day on 7 June 1917. Everything seemed fine in the surroundings of the San Salvador volcano. A regular day with people walking or riding their horses to jobs. In those days, cars did not exist in El Salvador, and people needed to wake up really early if they wanted to reach any particular destination. However, at 6:55 PM a powerful earthquake took El Salvador by surprise. It was so powerful that it was felt in several cities including Armenia, Ateos, Sacacoyo, and San Julián all of them in the south of the volcano. People started to panic and run for their lives. Half an hour later, at 7:30 PM, a new earthquake in a new section shook El Salvador again. This one affected Apopa, Nejapa, Quezaltepeque, San Juan Opico, Santa Tecla, and San Salvador. No one knew what was happening, some people believed it was the end of time. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ or maybe a punishment from the Almighty! People all around these cities were trying to save their lives. The...

The Ilopango elders always speak of a supernatural beast called the Mulus. They are afraid of it and its powers, and they refer to the General Cemetery as the Valley of the Crosses. Many of them assured they were near to being devoured by the Mulus when they walked close to the cemetery at night. The Mulus is a creature from the world of wrath, with a shape almost identical to a wolf but of a larger size. It is a very frightening and contemptuous beast that you can only see in cemeteries at night. Every midnight appears when a person is buried and checks their tombs to see if they were murdered or wicked people during their time on Earth. When it finds those tombs, digs them, and devours their corpses (figure 1). Also, while it’s eating, it makes the noise that is known as “MULUS!” Figure 1. The Mulus. Some gravediggers said a few people saw the Mulus, for the first time in a cemetery in Rosario, La Paz in the 1900s. For them, the Mulus represents a neutral being that is i...

Lake Ilopango (Xilopango) like many other sources of its kind, it’s surrounded by incredible nature and not so far volcanoes like the Chinchontepec. Without a doubt, for these reasons and many more, it was primitively consecrated to the genies of the waters. The ancient Toltec Empire, whose remains are dispersed all across the Americas and the world, in the twelfth century, brought here their civilization. Mainly, their numerous deities to whom it rendered a superstitious cult. Everyone in Ilopango worshiped Tlaloc, he represented the God of Lightning and Tempest and preceded the fertilizing rain. His wife Xochiquetzal was called in Tlaxcala, the Lady of the Blue Dress, and participated in all honors related to her husband. She was extremely beautiful and benevolent and was considered the patroness of waters, pregnancy, and childbirth. Hence in multiple Central American regions, she was particularly venerated and admired. Each year at the time when the cornfields were ready f...

Everything started in San Salvador just after the independence of The Federal Republic of Central America between 1823 and 1841. Numerous children started to disappear without a trace. Many citizens of El Salvador attributed these evil acts to a woman who wore white clothes. She had an indescribable face and wore many rings in her hands. Some of them had skulls, while other ones were impossible to describe. However, there is only one story fully documented by Juan’s family. Unfortunately, Juan became mad after he saw the Lady of the Rings, face-to-face, at least twice. His story is as follows. One afternoon Juan was going to his work as a carpenter in 4th Western Street. He had a very tiring work in the government to provide all that they needed for the wars with the Mexican Empire. After his work, he returned home and noticed that this night was extremely hot, perhaps 35 degrees Celsius. His wife was reading a book, and when he entered, she gave him a kiss. They spoke for a wh...

What I’m going to tell you, a man told me years ago. The same story was shared with him by someone else too. He told me that his grandfather, already deceased, had heard it from his grandparents. This is an old legend to cut a long story short. They said that this happened in those days when still many Indians lived in America and the first Spanish Conquistadors were arriving at these lands with more and more Spaniards. According to what old legends said, almost all these Spaniards came because they were not doing very well in their country, and they thought they would have a better life in these lands. That’s how Marcos Villegas came to El Salvador, who later renamed himself as Mr. Marcos Villegas de la Buena Nueva. If I remember correctly, he was born in a small town lost in the mountains of Spain. They said because he was unrude, he learned how to read and write thanks to the charity and patience of Priest Mateo Nuñez, a little priest who often visited that place...