Leon's cathedral receives UNESCO certificate

Published by Nicaraguan Dispatch

Oct. 14, 2012 - Last week’s solemn documentation ceremony was attended by Vilma de la Rocha, of the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, who delivered the UNESCO certification, by the UNESCO representative in Nicaragua and other local government authorities.

The Cathedral’s official inclusion on the UNESCO list now brings the number of Nicaragua’s UN cultural recognitions to three. The ruins of León Viejo were added to the UNESCO list in 2000 and the satirical drama El Güegüense was decorated as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2005.

The León Cathedral’s construction began in 1747 and was finished 78 years later.

Inside the walls are decorated by paintings of the 14 Stations of the Cross by the Nicaraguan artist Antonio Sarria.

But the cathedrals real importance lies beneath its floors. Its crypts provide the final resting place of Nicaraguan greats; cardinals, bishops, musicians; independence leader Miguel Larreynaga, and poet and national hero Rubén Darío.

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