The Old Cathedral of Managua. Photo: The Nicaragua Report
This beautiful old relic, the old Cathedral of Managua (Catedral Vieja), stands overlooking the central town square (the Parque Central), its neighbor on the left, the Palacio de la Cultura, Nicaragua’s Museum of art and culture, once the Palacio de los Heroes de la Revolucion, and on the right, the Palacio Presidencial.
The Old Cathedral of Managua was destroyed in the earthquake of 1972 but is today propped up by steel girders, still beautiful, but a sad old relic of history. It would be wonderful if Nicaragua could possibly restore the Cathedral, but that would be an engineering feat in itself.
It was built in 1920 by a Belgian architect named Pablo Dambach who lived in Managua. It was the first cathedral to be constructed of concrete and steel frame in the western hemisphere. Although it survived the earthquake of 1931, nature was not so kind in the earthquake of 1972 when this beautiful cathedral suffered extensive damage.
Hopefully one day, the Old Cathedral of Managua, (Catedral Vieja) will be restored to her former beauty and all can come to visit. Meanwhile, when you are in Managua for a short vacation, it is one of the Managua tourist sights not to be missed on a tour of Managua.
hi there,Next month I’ll need to visit my friend in Nicaragua and need to know about how to apply visa.
I’d like to get more information about other historic places in Managua and the rest of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a very beautiful country.
Hi Luis,
If you search on the Nicaragua Report, you’ll find many of the places you should visit in Managua. I also suggest that you pick up a good tourist guide to Nicaragua and it will provide you with in depth information. When you are in Nicaragua, stop by an INTUR tourist office (there’s one at the airport and in every city I was in) and they will have plenty of information/brochures for you, they are helpful and will point out where to go and what not to miss in Nicaragua. Yes, it’s true, Nicaragua is a wonderful country.