Pre-Columbian Museum el Ceibo

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The museum el Ceibo is located close to the port Moyogalpa on the same area as the numismatic Museum. The pre-Columbian museum is a private collection of Moises Ghitis Rivera, which he started collecting since his early childhood. The objective of the museum is the conservation and the exposition of Ometepe’s cultural heritage. You will find ceramic pieces, quotidian working tools, ceremonial ceramics and jewellery.

The museum was inaugurated in 2007, when Moises Ghitis Rivera decided to share his collection with the public. He founded the museum inside his own house, which now includes the pre-Columbian museum and the numismatic museum. His friends always supported his idea, providing him with artefacts they found on different parts of the island. As a result, you can visit a grand collection of 1500 pre-Columbine pieces. It is the only privately owned museum about pre-Columbian history on Ometepe Island and much recognised in Nicaragua.

The museum consists of six rooms, each one dedicated to a different art and craft. First you will enter the ceramic room, which exhibits ceramics from six different eras on Ometepe Island. After that you enter the funerary room. This includes a replication of a tomb found on ometepe and examples of the different types of urnes the ureinwohner used to bury their ancestors. Next comes the stone room, where you will see their working tools made up of stones. In this room you can also have a look on a 3D map of the island.

Upstairs are three more rooms. The first one is dedicated to the women, as she also played an important role in the pre-Columbian era in terms of political, religious and economic power. In the next room you will learn about the Xulo dog. The dog is represented as a ceramic statue. However, in ancient times the small dog also served as food. The last room exhibits jewellery and corporal decoration from the pre-Columbian era.