Monument sights in Central America
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El Tamarindón
El Tamarindón is a huge tree where Adiáct, cacique (chief) of the Subtiava tribe during the Spanish conquest, was unceremoniously hung so his people would see him as weak. It didn't work, and today 'The Big Tamarindo' is a rallying point for indigenous locals, who placed a plaque there in 2003 that declares 'This tree was the cross of he who is our light,' and they sure as heck weren't talking about Jesus. There are a few benches underneath and a market every third Sunday in April.
It's a solid 20-minute walk or a taxi ride to Subtiava from the León cathedral, or you can take one of the covered trucks plying the streets. Catch a Subtiava-bound truck at the southwest cor…
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Parque Histórico Nacional Loma de Tiscapa
Home to what's easily Managua's most recognizable landmark, Sandino's sombre silhouette, this national historic park was once the site of the Presidential Palace where Sandino and his men were executed in 1934. You can see the silhouette, hastily erected by the departing FSLN government in 1990, from almost anywhere in town.
What looks like a dilapidated parking structure was for decades one of Nicaragua's most notorious prisons. You'll also pass Monumento Roosevelt, constructed in 1939 with lovely lake views, which is today a memorial to those killed in the revolution.
The top of the hill is actually the lip of Volcán Tiscapa's beautiful little crater lake, with incredib…
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Mapa en Relieve
It's worth venturing along to Parque Minerva to see the Mapa en Relieve, a huge open-air map of Guatemala showing the country at a scale of 1:10,000. The vertical scale is exaggerated to 1:2000 to make the volcanoes and mountains appear dramatically higher and steeper than they really are. Constructed in 1905 under the direction of Francisco Vela, the Mapa was fully restored and repainted in 1999. Viewing towers afford a panoramic view.
This is an odd but fun place, and it's curious to observe that Belize is still represented as part of Guatemala. To get there take bus V-21 northbound on 7a Av just north or south of the Parque Central.
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Monumento a Rubén Darío
On the lake side of Plaza de la República, the Monumento a Rubén Darío was recently refurbished after the original 1933 statue fell into graffitied disrepair. A group of artists did a guerrilla installation, veiling the city's shame from public view and demanding poetic justice. In 1998 the cash-strapped government bowed to public opinion and, with Texaco Oil's help, restored the likeness of Nicaragua's favorite son. Toward the lake is the oblong Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío.
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Monumento a Landívar
Commemorating Jesuit priest and poet Rafael Landívar (1731-93), Monumento a Landívar is a structure of five colonial-style arches set in a pristine little park. Landívar lived and wrote in Antigua for some time, and his poetry is esteemed as the best of the colonial period, even though much of it was written in Italy after the Jesuits were expelled from Guatemala. Landívar's ruined house is behind the monument.
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Parque de la Paz
The 1990 Peace Park is one of Managua's most interesting monuments. Its reflection pool is empty and the light rarely shines, but what remains are weapons - machine guns, pistols, even a tank - forever encased in concrete by former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. Sort of Mad Max meets Rollerball, it's not pretty or comfortable, but is worth seeing.
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Hospital La Divina Provedencia
Also known as El Hospitalito, this hospital's chapel was the place where Monseñor Romero was assassinated by government agents while celebrating mass in 1980. A man fired a single shot, striking Romero in the heart and killing him instantly. Take a tour around his quarters and satisfy your inner voyeur with a grim glimpse of his blood-soaked shirt and robes.
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Monumento a la Memoria y La Verdad
Built in 2003, the 'Monument to Memory and Truth' displays the names of over 25,000 people who were killed or who disappeared in the repression of the 1970s and the civil war. Many famous names appear on the austere granite panels - including Roque Dalton - but it's the number of mostly faceless men, women and children that is particularly staggering.
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Statue
In the meantime, a statue of a steely-eyed sabanero, complete with an evocative poem by Rodolfo Salazar Solórzano, stands watch over Av 25 de Julio, the main street into town. The blocks around the intersection of Av Central and Calle Central contain several of the town's oldest houses, many dating back about 150 years.
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Parque Rubén Darío
Another Dario monument is in the Parque Rubén Darío, which has a statue of the master. Only the busts of other, lesser Leónese poets, including Alfonso Cortés (1893-1969), Azarias H Pallais (1884-1954) and Salomon de la Selva (1893-1959), are found here and all are accompanied by verses.
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Parque La Concordia
A couple of blocks west of the Museo Nacional de Historia y Antropología Villa Roy is Parque La Concordia, a mellow park full of reproductions of the Maya ruins at Copán, including a pyramid and many stone carvings.
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Monumento Roosevelt
Acsending Loma de Tiscapa from Crowne Plaza, you'll pass Monumento Roosevelt, constructed in 1939. With lovely lake views, today it's a memorial to those killed in the revolution.
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El Muñecón
A statue of a dock worker; this is a favorite landmark and monument in the town.
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