Rivas, Nicaragua

Rivas is a city in south-western Nicaragua, capital of the Rivas department, on the narrow isthmus between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. The area was home to the Nahua-speaking Nicarao, whose ruler met the Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila in 1523. During the National War, William Walker's filibusters fought battles at Rivas in 1855 and 1856 and surrendered there on 1 May 1857.