Colonial Nicaragua

Granada, Nicaragua 📍 - a horse and #carriage wait for passengers in front of the #cathedral in the elegant #city of #granada.  said to be the first `european city` in mainland america, granada was founded in 1524 and named after the spanish city of granada 🐎 🇳🇮 ...

Granada, Nicaragua 📍 - horse-drawn carriages line the street in front of #granada`s parque central with the towers and dome of the city`s #cathedral peeking above the tree-filled plaza 🇳🇮 ...

Punta Jesús Maria, Nicaragua 📍 - #selfie at the narrow sand spit of punta jesús maria near the town of #moyogalpa, with #ometepe`s #volcán concepción looming in the background 🌋 🇳🇮 ...

Granada, Nicaragua 📍 - one of #granada`s other impressive churches, iglesia la merced, was built in 1534 and offers sweeping views of the city from it`s belltower 🇳🇮 ...

Managua, Nicaragua 📍 - the first thing you`ll notice about #managua is its trees - and I`m not talking about real ones, though the #city has plenty of those - but about the hundreds of huge, colorful, stylized #trees that line boulevards and enliven public spaces, called "árboles de la vida" or trees of life.  the playful trees are everywhere and add a lot of character and joy to managua! 🌲 🇳🇮 ...

San José, Costa Rica 📍 - the elegant neo-classical teatro nacional de #costarica opened in 1897 when the population of san josé was only 19,000 people.  interestingly, it was funded by placing a tax on coffee, the country`s biggest export.  120 years and more than 300,000 people later, it is arguably still the most #beautiful building in #sanjosé! 🇨🇷 ...

Léon, Nicaragua 📍 - welcome to beautiful #nicaragua!  my country no. 143!  #léon`s grand #cathedral of our lady of grace, a #unesco #worldheritage site built between 1714 and 1847, is the largest cathedral in central america! ⛪ 🇳🇮 ...

Léon Viejo, Nicaragua 📍 - the #ruins of léon viejo, one of #nicaragua`s two world heritage sites. the city was mostly destroyed by an earthquake in 1610 and was moved to the present day location of #léon. over the years, the abandoned city was eventually buried by lava from volcán #momotombo`s eruptions until it was rediscovered centuries later in 1967 🇳🇮 ...

Léon Viejo, Nicaragua 📍 - #selfie with the impressive #volcán #momotombo, which buried the city of #léon viejo with lava hundreds of years ago 🌋 🇳🇮 ...

Léon, Nicaragua 📍 - a #colorful street in central #léon, #nicaragua`s second largest #city and former capital 🇳🇮 ...