Nicaragua 2022

Wednesday19October

Leaving Nantes in the morning, we pass through Amsterdam and arrive the same evening in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

We take a taxi and find, not without difficulty, the address of our Airbnb. I find the faithful shower of Latin American countries! The electric head heats the water directly, beware of small electric shocks!  

Thursday20October

First Nicaraguan awakening in our host's house who prepares us the typical breakfast of Central American countries.

It's a gallo pinto: rice, red beans, omelet (with tomato for today), piece of cheese and a corn cake. 

The day will be devoted to visiting the Capital on foot.

The Roberto Huembes market where you can find everything, from shoes to vegetables...

Fruit area.

Flower area.

Area of... baskets?

Bulk meat area.  

Back to fruits...

And to vegetables.

And everything needed to make a Gallo Pinto.

We are now wandering in search of the new cathedral.

The new cathedral, inaugurated in 1993, replaces the Saint James Cathedral, damaged during the 1972 earthquake.

The imposing geometric architecture is made of concrete, far from traditional Baroque churches.

The roof is composed of 63 small domes representing the 63 parishes of the diocese.

The main entrance with the choir in the background.

Other large doors at the level of the transept.

The interior is just as modern as the exterior. The architect is Mexican Ricardo Legorreta.

Part of the church recalls the fire (perhaps arson) that destroyed a Christ on a wooden cross nearly four centuries old.

Protected behind glass, a statuette of the "Infant Jesus of Prague", the original being visible in Prague.

One of the chapels of the cathedral.

We take height by joining the nature reserve of Lake Tiscapa, right in the city center. In the distance, the old Saint James Cathedral and the large Lake Managua also called Lake Xolotlán, second largest freshwater lake in Central America.

The laguna de Tiscapa

A gigantic silhouette pays homage to one of the historical figures of the city, Augusto Sandino. "Born May 18, 1895 in Niquinohomo (Nicaragua) and died February 21, 1934 in Managua, is a leader of the Nicaraguan guerrilla who, from 1927 to 1934, fought against the legal government which was then supported by the American marines. He was assassinated in 1934 by the National Guard commanded by the first of the Somozas, Anastasio Somoza García, on the orders of the American ambassador Arthur Bliss Lane." © Wikipedia

Return to the city and pass by the old San Pedro cemetery, which seems to be abandoned despite the signs placed near local celebrities.

The "Árboles de la Vida", giant metal structures that have become emblematic of the city since their installation in 2013.

Short walk in the "Luis Alfonso Velásquez Flores" public park, Nicaraguan poet.

The national palace is the seat of the Nicaraguan government. It was rebuilt after the 1972 earthquake, only the main facade from 1935 was preserved.

The old Santiago Apóstol cathedral completed in 1938 was damaged during the earthquake of December 23, 1972. Attempts at restoration are made, but regular small earthquakes do not make the task easy.

Despite its facade and damaged statues, it still stands. But we will not be able to go inside...

Return to the presidential palace on the Revolution Square.

On this square, there is a mausoleum in memory of the Founders of the Sandinista Front: Tomás Borge Martínez, Carlos Fonseca Amador and Santos Lopez. Someone will also come to bother me to forbid me from taking photos, but I won't know why, was I mistaken for a journalist? Let's not forget that Nicaragua is an authoritarian regime that wishes to keep control over everything...  

"The Sandinista Revolution or Nicaraguan Revolution designates the growing opposition to the Somoza family dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the campaign led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) which led to the violent fall of the dictatorship in 1979 and the subsequent efforts of the FSLN, which presided from 1979 until 1990, to reform the society and economy of the country, despite the American embargo. The revolution is not only important for Nicaragua, Central America and the American continent, it also marked one of the most tense moments in the development of the Cold War."
© Wikipedia

The statue placed on the kiosk of the temple of "La Musica o La Glorieta".

Here we are on the edge of Lake Xolotlán, on Nicaragua Square and its alignment of trees of life.

Back to the lake, rides Simón Bolivar, historical figure of the liberation of many South American countries.

Facing the metal trees, John Paul II Square who came to visit the country in 1983 then in 1996.

The tomb of the unknown soldier and the Peace bell.

A roundabout with the portrait of Hugo Chavez.

Meal on the go "take away" recovered at the restaurant located a few blocks from our Airbnb. Tomorrow, we leave the capital to join the city of León, nerve center to access several volcanoes...