Xalapan

Xalapan lies in the northern Nicaraguan highlands of the Matagalpa country, where wooded ridges and valleys shape travel and settlement. The name is Nahuatl in origin and is also borne by Jalapa in Nueva Segovia, a highland town. Matagalpa communities lived across these uplands under their own leaders, with traditions distinct from those of the Pacific lowlands. After the Spanish conquest, demands for tribute and labour reached the highland villages, which kept their own ties with neighbouring settlements.