Granada, León & the Pacific

Chorotega and Nicarao peoples farmed the Pacific plain before the Spanish, and the conquistador Gil González Dávila reached the Nicarao lands of what is now Rivas in 1522. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded both Granada and León in 1524. León was abandoned after earthquakes around 1610 and rebuilt at its present site; the ruins of the original town, León Viejo, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

León became the seat of liberal politics, with its bishopric and university, while Granada, rich from lake trade and cattle, led the conservatives. Their civil wars drew in the American filibuster William Walker, who seized power in 1856 and whose forces, on retreating, burned Granada; Central American armies, including a Costa Rican force that fought at Rivas, drove him out. In 1852 Managua, between the two, had been made the capital as a compromise.

In the twentieth century Managua grew under the Somoza family, until the earthquake of December 1972 destroyed its centre. The revolution of 1979 saw heavy fighting in León, Masaya and Managua; the Indigenous neighbourhood of Monimbó in Masaya rose against the National Guard in 1978. In April 2018 protests against pension cuts spread from Managua to León, Masaya, Granada and beyond, with barricades and student occupations of universities. Police and armed pro-government groups cleared them by July, in a crackdown that left hundreds dead, and in the years since the government has shut down the country's independent print newspapers.

The Pacific is the Spanish-speaking, Catholic, mestizo heart of Nicaragua, and its culture carries a strong Chorotega and Nicarao inheritance. In Diriamba, in Carazo, the fiestas of San Sebastián in January feature El Güegüense, a colonial satirical play performed in masks that UNESCO lists as intangible heritage. Monimbó, in Masaya, is known for its folk dances, masks, marimba music and craftsmanship, and the Pueblos Blancos above the Laguna de Apoyo make pottery, furniture and plants for sale: San Juan de Oriente for its ceramics, Catarina for its nurseries.

León is the country's intellectual city, proud of Rubén Darío, its university and its colonial churches, and it celebrates the Gritería of 7 December with particular fervour. Granada, its old rival, is more conservative in reputation and more polished in its restored streets. Managua has its own feast, the Santo Domingo processions of August, when the small image of the saint is carried through the city.

Baseball is played everywhere, from the stadium in Managua to dusty town fields, and cockfights and horse parades mark the town fiestas.

Most Nicaraguans live on the Pacific side. Managua has about a million people in a sprawling, low-rise city rebuilt around roundabouts and shopping centres after the 1972 earthquake, rather than around the ruined old centre by the lake. León, Masaya, Chinandega and Granada are the other main cities, each with roughly 100,000 to 200,000 people.

The economy mixes government and commerce in Managua, garment factories in its free-trade zones, sugar cane, peanuts and cattle on the northern plains around Chinandega, where the Flor de Caña rum distillery is at Chichigalpa, and tourism in Granada, San Juan del Sur and on Ometepe. Chinandega's cane fields have been hit by an epidemic of chronic kidney disease among workers, a long-studied public-health concern. Corinto is the country's main port.

Many families here have relatives abroad, especially in Costa Rica and the United States, and remittances are a large part of household income. The heat sets the rhythm of the day: early starts, rocking chairs in the shade of doorways, and busy evenings.

The Pacific eats the national staples with local specialities. Granada is known for vigorón, boiled cassava topped with chicharrón (crisp pork skin) and a cabbage salad, served on a plantain leaf, and Nagarote and La Paz Centro, on the road to León, for quesillo, soft cheese rolled in a tortilla with pickled onion and cream. Indio viejo, a thick maize and beef stew flavoured with sour orange, and baho, beef steamed with plantain and cassava in banana leaves, are weekend dishes, and nacatamales are eaten on Saturdays and Sundays.

Lake Nicaragua supplies guapote and mojarra, fried whole and served with tostones (fried green plantain). Masatepe, in Masaya, is known for its tripe soup, and cosa de horno, baked maize breads, are sold across the region; Diriomo, near Granada, is known for cajetas, milk and fruit sweets.

Pinolillo and cacao drinks are sold from street carts, and fresh fruit frescos cool the afternoons. Flor de Caña rum comes from Chichigalpa, and Toña and Victoria beers are brewed in Managua.

Granada's colonial centre surrounds the Parque Central and the yellow cathedral, with the San Francisco convent museum and the La Merced bell tower for views over Lake Nicaragua. Boats from the lakeshore visit Las Isletas, and the Mombacho volcano, a cloud-forest reserve, rises to the south. Between Granada and Masaya lies the Laguna de Apoyo, a warm crater lake for swimming.

Masaya has its crafts market in the old market building and the Monimbó neighbourhood; just outside, Masaya Volcano National Park lets visitors drive to the rim of the Santiago crater. Managua, the capital, has the ruined old cathedral, the Loma de Tiscapa with its crater lagoon and the Sandino silhouette, and the Huellas de Acahualinca, ancient human footprints preserved in volcanic mud.

León has its cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where Rubén Darío is buried, colonial churches, revolutionary murals and the Museum of Legends and Traditions. Nearby are the Cerro Negro volcano, the ruins of León Viejo on Lake Managua, and the beaches of Poneloya and Las Peñitas. The north-west has the San Cristóbal volcano and the Cosigüina peninsula on the Gulf of Fonseca.

In the south, ferries from San Jorge reach Ometepe, where Concepción and Maderas can be climbed and petroglyphs are scattered through the farms. San Juan del Sur, popular with surfers, is the base for the surf beaches of the southern coast, which stretch north to Popoyo.