León Cathedral

I had the opportunity to visit Nicaragua this summer (August 2024), and with that, its two world heritage sites. I would like to share my impressions of this place that left a great impact during the two days I was in the city and that also allowed me to get to know its streets and other monuments and museums. The enormous cathedral of the city of León is a great monument that surprised me by its size and the thickness of its walls, by its width and its horizontal shape, designed to resist the earthquakes that frequently hit the region, these features allowed the church to reach our days intact. It is striking, in addition to the dimensions of its naturally illuminated interior space, the fact that no piece of iron or other metal was required to support the building, since it is built mainly of stone, lime, salt, sea sand and the clear of thousands and thousands of bird eggs. It is actually an example to admire for all its visitors and an object of study for contemporary architects anywhere in the world.

To fully enjoy the experience, it is necessary to purchase the three tours offered by the cathedral in the rear (eastern) part of the building. These are, one that gives access to the roof of the cathedral, another that covers the Patio del Príncipe, the art gallery, the baptistery and the tabernacle chapel and the last one to the basements of the cathedral.

There …

I had a full day tour from Managua to visit two Nicaraguan World Heritage Sites, the two Leon. After ending the morning tour in Leon Viejo at 10 AM, my guide’s original plan was local market then having lunch before the cathedral visit, but he got a warning phone call from his company that, the cathedral will be closed for the whole afternoon for certain ceremony, so he hurriedly took me to see cathedral at 11 AM before noon. The first thing we had to do was to secure the entrance ticket. The ticket booth was in the small hard to find entrance at the back of the cathedral opposite the local market, that in my opinion who on earth is going to notice this place! Then my guide rushed me to another entrance at bell tower and took me to see the famous roof.

After took off my shoes, the sight of the sparking white painted roof, domes, spires, and bell towers was indeed very beautiful, it was like walking in the snow-covered garden on summer! so bright that sunglass was mandatory. Then I walked to the top level of the roof, which in my opinion also nice but I would prefer the lower level, to see the view of the city of Leon from the roof which also was very fine. Then we went down to see the cathedral interior. The first thing I noticed was the natural light inside was really good despite the main door …

When the León Cathedral entered the List in 2011, many will have wondered “Do we really need another cathedral?”. After having now visited this Nicaraguan monument, my answer would be: “It’s different”. It’s essentially a Central American structure, not purely Spanish-colonial as so many others (although its construction was started during the late colonial years). Also, it’s a Single Monument that carries the weight of being a WHS on its own – not “just” as part of an inscribed city center.

León is Nicaragua’s second city in size. Its slogan is “Primera Capital de la Revolucion” – here’s where the demise of the Somoza regime started. León has been a Sandinista stronghold since. Right next to the cathedral survives a long political mural from the 1980s, painted jointly by German and Nicaraguan artists. The cathedral has been used for military purposes also in the insurrection of 1979.

The cathedral is León’s pride, and it stands impressively in the center of town. It’s so huge and there are so many turrets and domes on its roof, that it is a great landmark to find your way again when you’re lost somewhere in the city. They are in the process of repainting the whole structure. The facade is still a bit off-white, but the roof already has been rendered totally snow-white.

Visiting this Cathedral isn’t as straightforward as with other cathedrals and churches. Of course, the main body is open all the time, to give the local people space …

The cathedral, supposedly the largest in Central America, dominates the square and its massive walls are most impressive. Despite the citation's reference to natural light I found the interior dim and many of the paintings darkened by age. There are several other churches in Leon of note, though none approaches the size of the cathedral. The mix of styles may be more apparent to art historians than the casual visitor and those who have visited the silver and gold laden cathedral of Mexico City or the churches of Cuzco and Quito may be underwhelmed by the ornamentation of this cathedral.

The city of Leon itself is an interesting contrast to the more visited Granada, Leon's historical rival, in both its architecture and culture. (Unlike Granada, Leon was a battleground during the fight to oust Somoza in the 70s and there are many reminders of this struggle throughout the city.) It is well worth a visit.

There is frequent bus service from Managua and the ruins of Leon Viejo, another world heritage site are nearby as are some interesting "fumoroles" or steam vents from the nearby volcanoes.