The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Catedral Metropolitana de la Inmaculada Concepción de María''), referred to as the New Cathedral (''La Nueva Catedral''), is located in

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. It was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

History

The cathedral was built in 1991 to serve as a replacement for the

Old Cathedral of Managua The Old Cathedral of Managua, known as the ''Catedral de Santiago'' (St. James' Cathedral) in Spanish, is a cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua. The Cathedral was designed by Belgian architects. Its neoclassical design was said to have been inspired ...

or St. James' Cathedral (''Catedral de Santiago''). The old cathedral was damaged and thought to be unrestoreable after a 1972 earthquake that destroyed 90% of the city. The new cathedral was designed by the Mexican architect

Ricardo Legorreta Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, the United States of America and some other countries. He was awarde ...

. Construction began around August 1991, and the cathedral was inaugurated on September 4, 1993. The cost of the newly built cathedral was estimated at $4.5 million. The new cathedral has generated much controversy, particularly about its architectural style and finance. The costs were covered partially thanks to the help of American

Tom Monaghan Thomas Stephen Monaghan (born March 25, 1937) is an American entrepreneur who founded Domino's Pizza in 1960. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1983 to 1992. Monaghan also owns the Domino's Farms Office Park, located in the Ann Arbor Charter Town ...

, owner of

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

. Locals refer to it as ''La Chichona'' on account of the plethora of

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

s adorning it which resemble many ''chichas'' (

: slang for "breasts"). A fire started by a

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...

damaged an image of ''Sangre de Cristo y el Santísimo'' in the cathedral on July 31, 2020. Neither of the two people in the cathedral at the time were injured.

References

External links

Curiamanagua.org

{{Nicaragua topics, state=uncollasped Roman Catholic cathedrals in Nicaragua Buildings and structures in Managua Roman Catholic churches completed in 1993 Tourist attractions in Managua Ricardo Legorreta buildings 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Nicaragua

History

See also

References

External links