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...

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...

Long ago, in the Chinchontepec surroundings, a woman of incredible beauty used to live. Unfortunately, her life was extremely tough because every time she met a new man, he got madly in love with her, wanted to marry her, and procreate his offspring with her. The woman couldn’t understand these mad situations and was losing her marbles. Plus, for unknown reasons, she could not love or feel any attraction to any of her wooers. Hence, she constantly fled from one place to another to avoid creating unrealistic expectations. One day during the dry season of 1254, the woman decided to climb to the top of the Chinchontepec to rest from her wooers. Near the crater, she decided to take a nap. Some hours passed when a young man appeared from nowhere, and immediately upon, looking at her, he fell in love as had always happened. The man tried to propose her marriage as many had attempted, but at this moment, the volcano erupted as never before. It ejected ash plumes and erupted lava as ne...

Many moons ago, the Cipitio ultimately encountered a girl who wasn’t frightened of him. Her name is Tenancín. This little girl became his girlfriend because she perceived something in the Cipitio that no one had ever seen. She discovered he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just mischievous and liked to crack jokes.  Plus, giving flowers to all the pretty girls in El Salvador, just to make them smile. People in the villages from San Vicente describe Tenancin as a very small and pretty girl with brown eyes and long hair, who is constantly smiling (figure 1). Figure 1. Tenancín.  ¹ One day, Tenáncin was cutting flowers for her grandmother’s birthday. She explored the forest, La Joya. However, she forgot how to come back and started to scream and run lousily, through the forest, when she reached the corolla where the Cipitio was sleeping. She noted it and was confused in the beginning because she always thought the Cipitio was only a legend. Legends used to discourage the gi...

The Lenca people believed that from the confines of the volcano of San Miguel, a huge flying serpent came from its first eruption. On that day, the place was full of magma and ashes, and the serpent went to take refuge in the enchanted Ulupa Lagoon (figure 1). Figure 1. The Ulupa lagoon. ¹ The Ulupa Lagoon, in the Lenca language, meant: “place of the eels.” It used to look more or less circular, and apparently, it had deep waters. However, it had a unique peculiarity, from there was born a drainage stream that led its excesses to the right bank of the Río Grande de San Miguel River. The lagoon was about 5 km north of the Jocotal Lagoon, in the south or right band, and about 2 km away from the ancient road that joined the extinct populations of Xiriualtique and Elenuayquin, and shortly before reaching the prehistoric lava flows that were thrown the aforementioned volcanic towards the SE, in the direction of the San Juan Lagoon, whose last rebound cuts today The Litoral Hig...

For almost a century, the Izalco Volcano erupted continuously. There was a constant fear that it would erupt and descend on the skirts wrecking the villages around it. The parish priest of the church of Dolores in 1935, Salvador Castillo, gathered a group of parishioners and undertook with the image of the Immaculate Conception aloft. They organized a procession around. Suddenly, the volcano calmed down, and the lava and smoke did not come out anymore. This moment was considered a miracle of an unprecedented scale by everyone, and on that day, December 10th, 1935, they placed a statue of the Virgin (figure 1) right where the lava altered its course and stopped. Plus, yearly on the same day, many Izalqueños travel a long way, in the morning to the skirts of the silent Izalco Volcano. Later, they join a mass in honor of their Holy Mother for multiple reasons, including faith, and gratefulness to the Virgin for stopping the lava, among others. All these actions continue, even though...

In the times when the Amerindians lived alone in the lands of Conchagua, an expected situation happened. One day, all the men gathered to give themselves the task of building a huge water container called: “The Pilona” (figure 1), at the top of a mountain called Chilagual. This was because the goddess of the waters in a dream showed their leader that in that place, he would sprout a spring that would give water to the thirsty people of the lands and their descendants forever. Figure 1. The Pilona. For the following months, the people from Conchagua worked for long periods of time without resting until they finished the Pilona. However, after they finished it, the water did not sprout as promised, not even a drop fell into the huge Pilona. After many months of an intense drought, the citizens gathered and agreed to celebrate a consecration to the goddess of the waters. During the middle of their celebration in the volcano of Conchagua, a cloud appeared in the shape of a winged...

Many moons, when I was just a child and a “good” kid and attended my school in El Salvador, I never stopped doing the mandatory inspection among my classmates. As “good” kids, I had a daily hobby with my friends. We approached trembling with emotion to spy “the underground,” the devil’s treasure hidden location. Something that everybody wanted, but no one had got it! And now, it’s time to go deeper into this adventure. Let’s go! In 1752 in Izalco (figure 1), there was a large excavation near the cabildo of a church. In its background, we could see from a distance, the entrance to two masonry tunnels. Some people said they discovered them while they were taking soil to make clay, this was a gigantic work. Another curious person explored the tunnels “without being able to find the end,” and they thought it was the entry to the hell itself! Figure 1. Izalco Volcano. Around the town, there was a lot of gossip about this. Some midwives intervened, and after discussions and suspicio...

Many moons ago, in a place not so far from San Juan Canton. It used to live a girl of magnificent beauty and impressive smile. She lived with her parents, brothers, and other relatives in a small wooden cabin. Her name was Xiri, which means “Star.” She belonged to the Lenca tribe. The Lenca tribe was very calm and smart. They were never involved in any wars with their neighbors until the Tecolucas-Nonualcos attacked them by surprise to conquer and seize all their lands, women, and gold. It was a bloody war, which unfortunately they lost. Lamani led this war and was the most powerful shaman of those times. He was a ruthless and cruel ruler who kidnapped Xiri because he fell in love at first sight. He saved her from the war. However, it was not the same luck for her family, who died immediately after the archers had invaded her hometown. In addition, when the war was ongoing, the Tecapa Volcano erupted with great fury, as if the gods thought this was enough! The eruptions continued...