JANUARY, 2005
January 29 - 31, 2005
We liked Leon a lot. It is a good combination of several colonial churches, a nice market, and good restaurants and bars around a beautiful central square. There are also a few great art museums, lots of political murals dealing with the Sandinista revolution, as Leon is home to the house were Samosa was finally assinated. On top of that, the local baseball team just won the national baseball championship (which we had seen on TV), and we got to check out their home field.
As noted, there are 7 churches in Leon that have been well presserved, nothwithstanding the revolution related violence that wracked Leon in the late 70's and 80's. These churches are nothing like those in Mexico, but were by far the most architecturally impressive we have seen anywhere else in Latin America.
Politically, Leon is interesting in that it was the one place we saw in Nicarague that still seemed to be actively commemorating the Sandinista Revolution, if not openly still keeping the candle lit on its principles. There is a prominent Sandinista monument just off of the central square, and many homes still fly the Sandinista flag. From what we hear, many people are even predicting that the Sandinistas will take back a majority hold on the government in the next elections. On top of this, the home where Nicaragua's brutal dictator, Samosa, was assinated is a noteworthy attraction, and the gunman __________________, who was himslef killed in the assanation, is a local and national, hero.
Artistically, Leon is also a worthwile destination. The city is adorned in several murals commerating the fall of Samosa, the Revolution, and the Sandinista movement in general. Margarits, a very nice local woman gave us a personal tour of the murals and explained the significance of each to us for a good hour. We also noticed a lot of anti Bush grafitti throughout the city. The city also has a prominent statue garden dedicated to Ruben Dario, Nicaragua's national poet. As for art museums, the Fundaccion __________________________________ is two beautiful old homes which have been converted into gardens and a museum housing everything from baroque religious art to some pretty edgy modern work, which we both really liked; almost all of which seemed to be from Nicaraguan artists. Leon is definitely a must see if you get to Nicaragua.
