The Church of San Jeronimo (St. Jerome)
This church houses the miraculous image of the patron saint of Masaya. Its architecture is simple yet elegant, with one tower on the façade and an apse topped with a dome. The church was damaged in the earthquake that shook the city in mid-2000, but has been completely restored.
Masaya Volcano National Park
This is a double volcano - Masaya and Nindiri - which offers five volcanic cones. It is one of the main volcanic attractions for visitors to Central America. The park's primary feature is the Santiago Crater, which is open at the summit alongside the Plaza de Oviedo. Although the crater formed in the middle of the nineteenth century, the volcano has been continuously active since the time of the Spanish conquest, emitting lava and sulphuric gases.
The paved road that winds through the park passes solidified lava boulders and lush patches of tropical forest on its way to the Santiago Crater. This volcano is 635 meters (2,083 feet) high and 570 meters (1,870 feet) across at its widest point. On the road to the top, you will also find an Environmental Interpretation Center with exhibits and a souvenir shop, where you may request a guided tour around the trails that traverse the park. Four hundred meters (1,312 feet) down into the crater is an internal pit that constantly emits sulphuric gases and acid, which are swept away toward the Pacific by the winds. The walls of the crater provide a fascinating look at the nests of birds that have adapted to life in the midst of the gases emitted by the volcano.
Apoyo Crater Lake
Visible from the Catarina Overlook, this lake occupies the bottom of a giant crater measuring six kilometers (3.7 miles) across, opened by a catastrophic eruption 21,000 years ago. Its depth is estimated at greater than 250 meters (820 feet). The waters are somewhat salty, which explains the crater lake's indigenous name of "atl-poyec".
Bobadilla's Cross
On the peak of the hill next to the crater of the Masaya Volcano is a cross, in the same spot where a similar cross was raised in 1528 by the zealous Mercedarian friar, Francisco de Bobadilla, in order to exorcise the devil. Bobadilla baptized the volcano with the name "The Mouth of Hell".
Source: Content and images with permission from the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism - www.intur.gob.ni
