Leon
Stories about Leon and its volcanoes in the adventures of Ephraim G. Squier
Leon City
Leon was formerly one of the best built cities in all Spanish America. "It is," says the old traveller, Gage, writing in 1665, " very curiously built ; for the chief delight of the inhabitants consists in their houses, in the pleasure of the country adjoining, and in the abundance of all things for the life of man. They are content," he adds, " with fine gardens, with the variety of singing birds and parrots, with plenty of fish and flesh, with gay houses, and so lead a delicious, lazy, and idle life, not aspiring much to trade and traffic, although they have the lake and ocean near them. The gentlemen of Leon are almost as gay and fantastical as those of Chiapas ; and it is especially from the pleasure of this city that the province of Nicaragua is called Mahomet's Paradise."
"Our countryman, Mr. Grage, who travelled in these parts, recommends Leon as the pleasantest place in all America, and calls it the Paradise of the Indies. …”
The public buildings of Leon are among the finest in all Central America. Indeed, the great cathedral of St. Peter may perhaps be regarded as second to no similar structure in any of the Spanish American States. It was finished in 1743, having occupied thirty-seven years in building. The cost is said to have been five millions of dollars, but this seems to be an exaggeration. It covers an entire square, and its front extends the whole width of the grand plaza. It is constructed of cut stone, and is one firm mass of masonry. The roof is composed of massive arches, and has all the solidity of a rock. Nothing can better illustrate its strength, than the fact that it has withstood the storms and earthquakes of more than a century and, with the exception of one of the towers, which; during my residence in the country was struck by lightning, and cracked from top to bottom, it is now nearly as perfect as it came from the hands of its builders.
Both the façade and rear of the cathedral were once ornamented with the royal arms of Spain, but these were removed in the first fervor of republican zeal, and their places yet remain blanks,—^emblematic of a country which has got rid of one government, without having as yet fully succeeded in establishing another in its place.
One of the finest views in the world is commanded from the roof of the cathedral ; and standing here, I saw for the first time the waters of the Pacific, a rim of silver on the edge of the western horizon. In the east bristled the nine volcanoes of the Marabios, which I have already mentioned, their outlines sharply defined against the sky, and in their regularity of outline emulating the symmetry of the pyramids. From this position alone is a good view to be obtained of the city, which, seen from one side, or from a distance, presents only a monotonous succession of tiled roofs, half- buried amongst the trees, and only relieved by the white walls of the churches.
The churches of La Merced, the Recoleccion, and Calvario are remarkable for their size and their fine façades. The front of the latter is ornamented with panels containing Scriptural groups, admirably executed in bas-relief, and with niches containing statues of the saints. It has suffered much from shot, having been twice occupied by besieging forces, while the superior position of the cathedral was in possession of the other party. The Merced has also suffered from the same cause, but in a less degree. It contains some fine paintings, and its principal altar is an elaborate and very beautiful piece of composition. A convent was once attached to this church, as also to the church of the Recoleccion, and to that of San Juan de Dios. But these have been abolished and the convent buildings of the Merced, at the time of my arrival, were used as cavalry barracks, while those of San Juan de Dios had been converted into a hospital. Besides the churches which I have named, there are ten or twelve others, but less in size, and of more moderate pretensions. And as each of these has a chime of bells, and nearly every day is dedicated to some saint, in whose honor it is essential to ring them all, a continual clangor is kept up, which, until the stranger becomes habituated to it, or is deafened outright, is excessively annoying.
Los Marabios (currently known as Los Maribios)
The volcanoes of Central America are all situated on the Pacific coast ; the eastern slope of the continent consisting of broken mountain ranges, which exhibit few traces of volcanic action. In fact, they occur almost in a right line, running due N. W. and S. E., commencing with the high volcano of Cartago in Costa Rica (11,480 feet high), from the summit of which both oceans are visible, to Citlaltepetl, in the Department of Vera Cruz, in Mexico. There are several hundred volcanic peaks and extinct craters on this line, the most remarkable of which are Cartago, or Irasu, Turrialva, Barba, and Vatos, (9,840 feet high,) in Costa Rica ; Abogado, Cerro Pelas, Miriballes, Tenerio, Rincon de la Vieja, Orosi, Madeira, Ometepec, Zapatero, Guanapepe, Guanacaure, Solentinami, Momobacho, Masaya or Nindiri, Managua, Momotombo, (6,500 feet high,) Las Pilas, Acosusco, Orota, Telica, Santa Clara, El Viejo, (6,000 feet high,) Coseguina, and Joltepec, in Nicaragua ; El Tigre, and Nacaome, in Honduras; Amapala or Conchagua, San Salvador, San Miguel, San Vicente, Isalco, Paneon, and Santa Ana, in San Salvador ; Pacaya, Volcan de Agua, Volcan de Fuego, Incontro, Acatenango, Atitlan, Tesanuelco, Sapotitlan, Amilpas, Quesaltenango, and Soconusco, in Guatemala.
This plain is traversed by a succession of volcanic cones, commencing with the gigantic Momotombo, standing boldly out into the Lake of Managua, and ending with the memorable Coseguina, projecting its base not less boldly into the ocean, constituting the line of the Marabios. Fourteen distinct volcanoes occur within one hundred miles, on this line, all of which are visible at the same time. They do not form a continuous range, but stand singly, the plain between them generally preserving its original level. They have not been " thrust up," as the volcano of Jorullo seemed to have- been, elevating the strata around them; although it is not certain but the original volcanic force, being general in its action, raised up the whole plain to its present level.
Around some of these volcanoes, that is to say those having visible craters, are many smaller cones, of great regularity, composed of ashes, volcanic sand, and triturated stones, resembling septaria. They seldom support anything but a few dwarf trees, and are covered with coarse grass. This grass, when green, gives them a beautiful emerald appearance. In the dry season this color is exchanged for yellow, which, after the annual burning, gives place to black. They constitute with their changes very singular and striking features in the Central American landscape.
On the 11th and 12th days of April, 1850, rumbling sounds, resembling thunder, were heard in the city of Leon. They seemed to proceed from the direction of the volcanoes, and were supposed to come from the great volcano of Momotombo, which often emits noises, and shows other symptoms of activity, besides sending out smoke. This volcano, however, on this occasion exhibited no unusual indications. The sounds increased in loudness and frequency on the night of the 12th, and occasional tremors of the earth were felt as far as Leon, which, near the mountains, were quite violent, terrifying the inhabitants. Early on the morning of Sunday, the 13th, an orifice opened near the base of the long-extinguished volcano of Las Pilas, about twenty miles distant from Leon. The throes of the earth at the time of the outburst were very severe in the vicinity, resembling, from the accounts of the natives, a series of concussions. The precise point where the opening was made might be said to be in the plain; it was, however, somewhat elevated by the lava which had ages before flowed down from the volcano, and it was through this bed of lava that the eruption took place. No people reside within some miles of the spot consequently I am not well informed concerning the earlier phenomena exhibited by the new volcano.
Momotombita
The island of Momotombita was anciently inhabited, and called Cocobolo. I observed fragments of pottery, and of vessels of stone, strewed all over the shore ; and in the little cove where we landed there were evidences that the rocks had been rolled away to facilitate the approach of boats to the land. At a point on the shore of the main land, nearly opposite the island, is a line of large stones, extending for the distance of one or two hundred yards into the water, and projecting above it. The Indians have a vague tradition that this was a causeway built by " los antiguos habitantes," extending from the shore to the island ; and Capt. Belcher, of the British navy, who travelled here in 1838, seems to think the story not improbable. The supposed causeway is nothing more than a narrow vein of rock injected at some remote, period through a fissure in the superior strata or crust of theearth ; and being harder than the materials surrounding it, has retained its elevation, while they have been worn away by the action of the water.
A number of idols, obtained from Momotombita and other places, have been brought to Managua, from time to time, by the Indians, and plant at the corners of the streets. Nearly all of them, however, are small, and have been so much defaced as to possess little interest. But one particularly arrested my attention. It is set at one of the corners of a house, fronting on the little plaza of San Juan, and is very well represented in the accompanying engraving. It projects about four feet above the ground, and probably extends two or three feet below. In common with all others obtained from Momotombita, it is black basalt.
Ephraim G. Squier, Nicaragua; its people, scenery, monuments, resources, condition, and proposed canal, New York, Harper & brothers, 1860