Leon

Leon is named after the city of Leon in Spain. After independence, the elites of León and Granada struggled over which city would be the capital. Leon was dominated by the liberals and Granada by the conservatives. The fighting ended when Managua became the capital.

After Granada, which is better preserved, Leon, on a Nicaragua vacation, has the best colonial architecture in Nicaragua. It is a university town where during the 1979 revolution, the Sandinistas took in the violent street-by-street fighting. Leon used to be the hub of cotton growing but that has declined.

It has more colonial churches and cathedrals per capita than any other place in Nicaragua. Leon Cathedral is the biggest cathedral in Central America. The story goes that the construction plans sent back to Spain for approval showed smaller dimensions because they were afraid the Church wouldn't approve of such a large cathedral. The cathedral is also the final resting place of Ruben Dario, as well as many other notable Nicaraguans. You can climb the stairs up to the roof, where you can have a good view of all of Leon's churches and the surrounding volcanoes on Nicaragua tours.