The Old Cathedral of Managua - Catedral de Santiago

Five minutes from Managua’s crumbling waterfront stands the Old Cathedral of Managua, a derelict, abandoned but also alluring 1920’s structure.

The Cathedral was designed and shipped from Belgium in 1920 by Pablo Dambach. It was finished just in time to survive a big earthquake in 1931, but couldn’t withstand the 1972 earthquake that destroyed most of Managua’s town centre.

It’s possible to walk around the grounds and go up the steps to take a look inside through the iron bars providing there hasn’t been an seismic activity recently, but going inside is forbidden. All the original decorations, statues and tapestries still remain inside. Hoping to restore the landmark, authorities have begun to move toward renovation.