Leon the Left
Thursday, February 7th, 2008Leon is lovely. It was once the country’s capital until the title was given to Managua in 1857, a backwater at the time, to diffuse the rivalry between liberal Granada and leftist Leon. But because of its auspicious beginnings Leon has a plethora of beautiful churches. Today I only made it around to 3, including the cathedral at town square. my favorite was iglesia de la merced. It has a beautiful wood ceiling, arched and finished but not painted and an equally beautiful but colorful alter and rather austere pews.
As with most latin American catholic churches there are nooks and crannies along the sides housing saints, incarnations of the virgin, divino ninos and other religious figures, most of whom are bleeding. I must say they are liberal with the red paint on their religious icons. I love the openness of the churches here, with large open doors at the front and sides to maximize air flow. I sat for a long time in the iglesia de la merced watching the birds fly in and out and appreciating the openness with which people pray. There is a glass case housing the virgin de la merced (our lady of mercy, the patron saint of prisoners and prisons) and people walk up to her or drop to their knees, look at her so intensely and talk to her. I imagined what they were so earnestly praying for. Then a touch of her foot, a sign of the cross and they go back out into the heat of Leon.
This is definitely grittier than Granada. It lacks Granada’s status among tourists,the UNESCO world heritage designation, and the $ that comes with it. The central park, with it’s adjacent cathedral, is not very welcoming. It could use a café or 2. But what it lacks in these areas, Leon makes up for in history and culture. The country’s best museums are here, there are often live performances in cafes and one can still feel the passion from the past decade’s revolutions during which this Sandinista-leaning region suffered mightily at the hands of the brutal dictator Samosa and his Contras. You remember THAT little debacle, right?
Today, starved of fresh and uncorrupted blood, the Nicaraguan government is ineffective. Despite Daniel Ortega’s recent re-election (flashback!), an event that on the surface should be reason for Sandinistas of days-gone-by to celebrate, there is little to be happy about. The cold war’s hand-outs, from the soviets via Castro or the US, created a corrupt government on both sides and no functioning economy to speak of. I’ll quit with the history lesson (find out more on your own!) but Nicaragua certainly has a dramatic past and political passions run deep, something refreshing considering many American’s ambivalence towards their politics (their politics, not their religion. America is pretty good at mucking up its politics with religion). Maybe that is changing? It takes intense discomfort with one’s leaders to spark passion and get people to think? You may say I’m a dreamer…..
Peggy Rehm