Churches of León Part III

I'll start off with a side note: this is the 101st blog post I've made. I was thinking about mentioning that in my 100th post, but that one was more serious. I'm happy to have made it that far, and thanks to all of the readers and commenters for keeping me going.

And so we return to the grand churches of Leon, Nicaragua. Next in the lineup, we have Iglesia La Merced. This one is named after the patron saint of Leon, La Virgen de la Merced. Back in September, I posted a little bit about the festival for this saint. This is obviously an important church downtown, quite nice looking, and among the ones connected by tunnels.


Continuing along, we have la Iglesia San Juan. This one has seen better days. It's located near one of the largest markets in Leon as well as a nice park, so it's got some good things going for it. I'm not really sure if this is connected to the tunnel system; it's possible, but I got mixed results when I asked about it.


And lastly, we have la Iglesia Sutiaba. This is located in the neighborhood of Sutiaba, which was the indigenous settlement where Leon was relocated to after the original Leon was destroyed, most likely by the combination of an earthquake and eruption of the volcano Momotombo. The front of this church is quite large and imposing, but when you look at it from the side, it's not quite as intimidating. This one is also connected by tunnels, and everyone agrees on that because they say it required the longest tunnel, a distance of 1.2 kilometers (or at least I think that's the distance, it might be a bit longer). That gives you an idea of how many churches are in such a small radius..and that's just the Catholic churches...and only the ones that are possibly connected by tunnels.
Front View:Side View:
And so concludes our segment on churches of Leon connected by tunnels. There is still at least one other church I'll post about that isn't connected, but worth mentioning for other reasons. Stay tuned. But not too tuned; I know it's exciting, but don't sit there continuously hitting Refresh because it might take a couple days. Today is my last complete day in Leon, and tomorrow I return to the US.

Churches of León Part II

Welcome to Part II of Churches of Leon. An unsettling thought occurred to me this morning. What if there really are no semi-secret tunnels? My fantasies of Leon creating a completely impractical subway system are even less likely. But beyond that, not too much to worry about, so I might as well continue this little blog project.

Our next church is La Iglesia San Francisco. This one was a site of the festivities during Semana Santa, specifically on Dia del San Benito. This one is among the better kept churches as well. This one is also generally agreed to have tunnels.


Next we have Iglesia El Laborío. This one is a little bit on the worn and torn side, but at least it doesn't have a big facade to fool you into thinking that it's really gigantic. I haven't ever been inside, so I can't speak to it's inner beauty, but I've generally found that the insides are often more polished than the outsides. This one probably has tunnels, but I'm not 100% sure.


Lastly, we have Iglesia Zaragosa. This one is a bit smaller than the others, has more unusual architecture, but looks like it needs a bath. Word on the street is that it too is connected to the tunnel network.


Stay tuned for Part III.

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.

Top of the Cathedral

Here are a couple of pics from the top of the cathedral. This first photo is of me at the top, where they ring the bell. I'm at the same location as this guy from my pictures of the festival for Saint Jerónimo.

It turns out that the roof of the cathedral is very unusually shaped, with lots of little domes all over the surface.


This is a picture of the Alcaldía, which is basically City Hall, from the top of the cathedral. Interestingly enough, in order to raise money, the city occasionally rents out the top floor of the Alcaldía and turns it into a disco for private parties.


Lastly, this picture shows a little more of Leon. You can see a string of volcanoes in the background, a typical sight in Nicaragua. The church in the center of the photo is notable because it is one of the many churches in Leon connected to the cathedral by underground passageways. Apparently, in the olden days, the churches used to have lots of money and gold stored in them, and when emergency escapes were necessary, the tunnels came in useful. I didn't get much more detail out of my tour guide than that, but the tunnels are now sealed off (or so they claim!).