Museum sights in Nicaragua
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Convento y Museo San Francisco
The oldest church in Central America and the most striking building in Granada (that is to say, Nicaragua) boasts the big blue birthday cake facade of Iglesia San Francisco which, incidentally, houses the region's best museum.
The museum is through the small door on the left, where guides (some of whom speak English) are available for tours; tips are appreciated. Museum highlights include top-notch primitivist art, a scale model of the city and a tribe of papier-mâché Indians cooking, relaxing in hammocks and frolicking on comelazatoaztegams, a sort of a 360-degree see-saw.
The reason why you're here, however, is the Zapatera statuary, two solemn black basalt statues…
reviewed
-
A
Museo de Café
There's a lot of information in the Museo de Café, almost all of it in Spanish, and very little actually pertains to coffee. Staff, however, who also operate a tour desk, are highly caffeinated, offer free cups of coffee, and also sell bags of the stuff.
This is actually more of a Nicaragua and Matagalpa history museum. It begins with a nice archaeology display, then segues into high-school-quality exhibitions about the city and region, from photos of beauty-contest winners past and present through a list of Latin America's great liberators, from Bolivar to Martí.
reviewed
-
Turicentro Estelimar Science Museum & Pools
A good excuse for a 2km walk toward Jinotega, Turicentro Estelimar Science Museum & Pools has a small science museum with some pretty fabulous solar- and pedal-operated dinosaurs made out of old car parts, plus displays involving alternative energy, gears and hydraulics. There are also three attractive pools where you can relax afterward and big cabañas that are a good deal for groups and families.
reviewed
-
Mi Museo
This brand-new museum displays an incredible private collection of ceramics dating from at least 2000 BC to the present. Hundreds of beautifully crafted pieces were chosen with as much an eye for their artistic merit as their archaeological significance, and displayed in the grand old adobe with the same aesthetic awareness.
reviewed
-
Museo de Leyendas Y Mitos
The Museum of Myths & Legends is unmissable. The contrast of its main subjects is striking: a quirky collection of life-size papier-mache figures from Leónese history and legend, handmade by founder Señora Toruña (also represented in glorious papier-mache), and murals graphically depicting methods used by the National Guard to torture prisoners.
The museum is located inside what used to be a prison during the Somoza regime. The prison was built in 1921 - hence its name, La XXI (the 21st Garrison). You'll be led from room to room, each dedicated to a different aspect of Leónese folklore, from La Gigantona - a giant woman representing an original colonist still ridiculed…
reviewed
-
B
Museo de Arte Fundación Ortiz-Guardián
Probably the finest contemporary art museum in Central America, the Ortiz-Guardián Collection has spilled over from its original home in Casa Don Norberto Ramiréz, refurbished in 2000 to its original Creole Civil style, with Arabic tiles and impressive flagstones. It and another beautiful old home across the street are now packed with artwork; a Spanish-speaking guide costs extra, and is well worth it.
Begin surrounded by the luxurious realism of the Renaissance and spare beauty of the colonial period, then wander through romanticism, modernism, postmodernism and actually modern pieces by Cuban, Peruvian and other Latin American schools. Rubens, Picasso, Chagall and…
reviewed
-
Huellas de Acahualinca
Discovered by miners in 1874, the Footprints of Acahualinca are perhaps Managua's most intriguing site, and shouldn't be missed. These fossilized tracks record the passage of perhaps 10 people - men, women and children as well as birds, raccoons and deer - across the muddy shores of Lago de Managua some 6000 years ago.
Despite early speculation that they were running from a volcanic eruption, forensic specialists have determined that these folks were in no hurry and, oddly enough, were fairly tall, between 145cm and 160cm. The excavation was undertaken by the Carnegie Foundation in 1941 and 1942, and unearthed 14 layers (4m/13ft) of earth. About 2 metres (6.5ft) down,…
reviewed
-
Palacio Nacional de la Cultura
Adjacent to the Old Cathedral, the 1935 Palacio Nacional de la Cultura houses the Museo Nacional. The timeline starts only 500 million years ago, as Nicaragua is one of the newest places on earth, and takes visitors through the formation of the lakes and volcanoes - not to mention gold mines - before getting to pre-Columbian statuary and one of the best pottery collections in the country, all well signed and explained.
Other exhibits whiz through the Spanish colonial period before landing in the Sandino, then Sandinista, eras. Above the main staircase is a mural of revolutionary movements in the Americas by Mexican artist Arnold Belkin, and there's also a room tracing 500…
reviewed
-
Convento y Museo San Francisco
Central America's oldest church, and Granada's most striking building, the Iglesia San Francisco's bright blue facade resembles a big, gaudy cake. Constructed in 1585, it has been burnt down and rebuilt a couple of times since then, and most recently restored in 1989. Inside, you will find the region's best museum.
The church's museum includes a display of papier-mâché Indians engaged in various activities, some great primitivist art, and a scale model of Granada. But its main claim to fame is the Zapatera statuary: big black basalt statues carved sometime between AD 800 and 1200, discovered on the ancient ceremonial island of Zapatera in the 1880s, and brought together…
reviewed
-
Museo de Arte Sacro
Call ahead to make sure the intriguing Museo de Arte Sacro is open, as the curator and founder, Monsignor Ricardo Clemente Juárez Soza, sometimes needs to run errands during the day. You've probably noticed that this neighborhood's churches are in some disrepair, a situation that inspired Juárez to preserve the region's absolutely beautiful 16th- and 17th-century religious art right here, where it would be safe.
Faithfully detailed wooden saints - including one of the first Virgins of Guadalupe - to more ostentatious examples of baroque overkill, including lots of gold and silver artifacts, have been packed in the original Casa de Cultura Subtiava, built in 1544.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Huellas de Acahualinca
An international treasure, the Huellas de Acahualinca are a series of fossilised footprints on the shore of Lake Managua, left by about 10 men, women and children some 6000-plus years ago. Discovered by some local workers in 1874, it was originally believed that the group was fleeing the eruption of a nearby volcano, but this has since been disproved.
The footprints are complemented by a small on-site museum, containing ancient artifacts, human skulls and mammoth bones. It's a fascinating afternoon's excursion, and you mustn't miss it if you happen to be in Managua.
reviewed
-
C
Museo Entomológico
Still not open to the general public at press time, biologists Jean Michel Maes and Joan Tellez have big plans to display the largest collection of Nicaraguan insects in the world. In the meantime, you can visit the Museo Entomológico by appointment only, although you may have to root through stacks of bug trays to find your favorite insect.
The specialty is Lucanidae, a genus of beetles where males usually display ferocious-looking pincers, but there are also heaps of butterflies and other more charismatic critters to peruse.
reviewed
-
Galería de Héroes y Mártires
Be sure to stop by the Galería de Héroes y Mártires, devoted to fallen revolutionaries, with walls of faded photos and personal effects, from clothing to weaponry, on display.
There are special exhibits (with a bit of signage in English) about Leonel Rugama Rugama, the warrior-poet whose last line was his best: when he and Carlos Fonseca were surrounded by 300 National Guard, with tanks and planes, they told him to surrender. 'Surrender, your mother!' he famously replied, which is one, quite literally, for the history books.
reviewed
-
Museo Insurreccional Luís Manuel Toruño
The fine Museo Insurreccional Luís Manuel Toruño was recently relocated from León proper to this smaller Subtiava Sandinista stronghold, two blocks east and one and a half blocks south of San Juan Bautista. Also called El Buzón (Big Mailbox), this building was a secret weapons depot during the revolution. Curator 'El Chanclazo' has kept the faith and displays his enormous collection of revolutionary mementos, newspaper clippings, and communist memorabilia; if it's not open, ask around.
reviewed
-
D
Galería de Héroes y Mártires
Monuments to León's more recent history include the Galería de Héroes y Mártires, run by mothers of FSLN veterans and fallen heroes. There's some signage in English and Spanish, but you're here to look into the eyes of more than 300 revolutionaries, mostly pimply faced teens with feathered disco haircuts, and wonder if you would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to free your country from dictatorship. A small craft shop supports the gallery.
reviewed
-
Museo Adiáct
Museo Adiáct is a beautifully (if faded) muraled building that also houses the neighborhood's government; you may need to ask them to open this interesting little museum. Funeral urns, ceramic tableware, stone statues and more are on display, with very little signage or attempt at a timeline. Old copies of La Voz de Adiáct magazine, with news and views about the history of Barrio Subtiava, are piled on shelves toward the front.
reviewed
-
Zona Monumental
This quiet collection of pre-earthquake and postrevolutionary monuments, pretty parks, museums and government offices was once the pulsing heart of Managua; the malecón(pier), a pleasant stroll from the Zona Monumental, once overlooked a living lake lined with restaurants and festivities. Then came the 1972 earthquake, and two decades of war and privation, and the center was all but abandoned.
reviewed
-
E
Museo & Galería Héroes y Martires
Inside the alcaldía (mayor's office), the Museo & Galería Héroes y Martires honors Masayans who gave their lives during the revolution. There are walls of photos and interesting displays of bomb-building materials and weapons, as well as personal effects including musical instruments and a few Chorotegan funeral urns. It's poignant.
reviewed
-
Casa Historia
Casa Historia may be the only museum that chronicles the story of the Rama Indians. Isolated in Rama Key by the dominant Miskito culture, they still speak their own language and use their own traditional government structures.
reviewed
-
Museo de Historia y Arqueología
Museo de Historia y Arqueología has a small collection of pottery shards, shells and other miscellanea that could keep you entertained for a few minutes.
reviewed
Advertisement