Officially known as the Basílica de la Asunción, León’s cathedral is the largest in Central America, its expansive design famously, and perhaps apocryphally, approved for construction in much more important Lima, Peru.
Leónese leaders originally submitted a more modest but bogus set of plans, and then architect Diego José de Porres Esquivel, the Capitan General of Guatemala (also responsible for San Juan Bautista de Subtiava, La Recolección and La Merced churches, among others), pulled the switcheroo and built this beauty right here.
This is the cathedral’s fourth incarnation. The 1610 original was replaced in 1624 with a wood-and-adobe structure that pirate William Dampier burned to the ground in 1685. Another adobe was used until work began on this enormous ‘Antigüeño,’ Central American baroque-style masterpiece in 1747. Construction, done primarily by indigenous laborers from Subtiava and Posoltega, went on for more than 100 years.
The cathedral is a sort of pantheon of Nicaraguan culture. The tomb of Rubén Darío, León’s favorite son, is on one side of the altar, guarded by a sorrowful lion and the inscription ‘Nicaragua is created of vigor and glory, Nicaragua is made for freedom.’ Nearby rest the tombs of lesser-known Leónese poets Alfonso Cortés and Salomón de la Selva, as well as Miguel Larreynaga.
Among the magnificent works of art within are the Stations of the Cross by Antonio Sarria, considered masterpieces, and El Cristo Negro de Pedrarias, possibly the oldest Catholic image in the Americas, brought here in 1528. Marble statues inside are beautifully crafted, most notably the elaborate Inmaculada Concepción de María .
If it’s clear, take the roof tour, with a spectacular view of the city and smoking volcanoes beyond. The cathedral was having a face-lift at press time but should be completed by the time you read this. Regardless it will still be open to the public.
