Churches of León

Leon has a lot of churches, several of which are connected by tunnels. The churches range in condition somewhat, although most show some serious signs of wear and tear. I figured that I'd do a couple posts on the main Catholic churches here, mostly on the ones connected by secret underground tunnels because everyone loves secret passages. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to get reliable information on which churches are connected, and after asking various people at the tourist office and main cathedral, I don't quite have a consensus. Regardless, I'll just go ahead and post some pictures of churches that are most likely connected by tunnels. Interestingly, all of the churches connected by tunnels face west, although I couldn't get a good answer as to why that is.

Part 1 of Churches in Leon:


This first church is the main cathedral, which has been featured in this blog a couple of times. Aside from the typical sanctuary part for mass, in the back there is an administrative area that I recently discovered, which even has a large garden. I probably walk up the cathedral about once a day just to look at it. Being the central church in Leon, this one is definitely connected by tunnels.


Next we have La Recolección. It's a bit grungy on the outside, but the yellow color makes it stand out. As you can see from this angle, the elegant front of the building is a facade and then rest of the church is a little less glamorous looking. Unfortunately, at some point, they built power lines right in front of the church, which basically ruins a lot of photo angles. I could have taken a photo without the power lines, but I guess I just wanted to capture them since I find them a bit frustrating. Also, everyone agrees that this one is part of the underground tunnels.


We now come to what is, in my opinion, the prettiest church in Leon, El Calvario. Like La Recolección, this center tower is a facade, although the two bell towers are quite real. I'm not quite sure why this church is in so much better shape than the others. People I talked to were also in agreement that this church is part of the underground tunnel network as well.
4/16/08 UPDATE: I found out today that El Calvario was painted about 3-4 years ago. I saw a painting of how it used to look, and it was worn down like many of the other churches. A little paint went a long way.