The Old Cathedral of Managua, known as the ''Catedral de Santiago'' (St. James' Cathedral) in Spanish, is a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. The Cathedral was designed by Belgian architects. Its neoclassical design was said to have been inspired by the look of the

church of Saint-Sulpice Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in Paris, France. Construction began in 1928 and lasted until 1938. Belgian engineer Pablo Dambach oversaw the construction of the cathedral. The iron that was used to frame the core of the cathedral was shipped directly from Belgium. The cathedral survived the

1931 Nicaragua earthquake The 1931 Nicaragua earthquake devastated Nicaragua's capital city of Managua on 31 March 1931. It had a moment magnitude of 6.1 and a maximum MSK intensity of VI (''Strong''). Between 1,000 and 2,450 people were killed. A major fire started and ...

, as only its iron core had been erected at the time. Four decades later, the cathedral was heavily damaged during the

1972 Nicaragua earthquake The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake occurred at 12:29:44 a.m. local time (06:29:44 UTC) on 23 December near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a moment magnitude of 6.3 and a maximum MSK intensity of IX (''Destructive''). The epicenter w ...

, and the building was subsequently condemned though it was not demolished. The closing of the cathedral eventually led to the construction of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, also known as the New Cathedral of Managua, which was completed in 1993. Since that time, the restoration of the Old Cathedral has appeared to be possible. The Old Cathedral's tower clock, which was damaged during the Contra Civil War of the 1980s, was later removed during renovations to the cathedral in the late 1990s. The clock is now housed at the National Palace of Culture.

References

Roman Catholic cathedrals in Nicaragua Tourist attractions in Managua Buildings and structures in Managua Ruins in Nicaragua 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Nicaragua Neoclassical architecture in Nicaragua {{RC-cathedral-stub