Colonial grandeur of the American Granada
April 24, 2008 by Caitlin
Filed under Places & Inspiration
Like its famous namesake, Granada in Nicaragua is worth visiting for its relaxed atmosphere and beautiful historic architecture. It might not have the Alhambra but the streets are lined with Spanish colonial buildings in vibrant colours, from blue to cherry red. The town was founded in 1524 and the town has kept its historic flavour, with Spanish-style columns and facades adding a touch of grandeur, while terraces and garden courtyards provide a welcome retreat from the heat.
Granada Cathedral, a splendid building in yellow and white, sits opposite the town square, while municipal buildings and grand hotels line the other three sides. A few streets away, the Guadelupe Cathedral, an unrestored but no less imposing building, has a bell tower with fantastic views of the city.
The Old World Granada has the dramatic mountain backdrop of the Sierra Nevada. The New World version is perched on the edge of a vast freshwater lake with views of the nearby volcano. Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America and is almost the size of Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It’s worth taking a boat trip in one of the long covered motor boats to explore ‘Las Isletas’ – the islands – where many of Nicaragua’s richest families have holiday homes. Or you can rent a kayak or take a sailing lesson instead.
It’s also the cleanest lake in Central America and in a cafe by the water you can eat delicious freshwater fish caught wild that day, then lightly battered and served with salsa. Granada itself is packed with restaurants, with everything from fusion tapas to Italian on the menu. The city is only 40km away from Managua, the rather less charming Nicaraguan capital, so it gets a lot people coming for the day or the night. This also makes for a buzzing night life, with establishments such as Cafe Nuit and the Safari Lounge providing entertainment in the wee hours.
As some one who winters near the original Granada & who will be heading to South America in time, I relished this article and pictures!
I just discovered your blog through Family Travel and am enjoying it!
Thank you and welcome to the blog! – Caitlin
Food! I love food! Oddly enough, it looks very colonial, as you say! I would not have expected that. I love the idea of sitting next to the water while having lunch, etc.
It’s a very beautiful city and it’s really managed to preserve its historical architecture. By the way, you might be interested in my food blog The Gooseberry Fool. – Caitlin.
Are these photos airbrushed? I don’t see the ever-present garbage in the streets, the ribs of the starving horses, or the homeless men and glue sniffing boys sleeping in the front of the cathedral. And of course, one can’t smell the ever present aroma of urine there, due to the country-wide habit of men urinating in public places. As for the safety of Granada and Nicaragua, I personally know of two young women who, in separate events in Granada, were kidnapped by taxi in broad daylight, beaten, sexually abused, (one was raped repeatedly), terrorized and then dumped out of the moving taxi in unfamiliar places with nothing but the clothes on their backs. This was done to them in order to get their PIN numbers on ATM cards so that their accounts could be emptied. These crimes did not appear in the local media – most crime against foreigners is not revealed to the public, as this would be bad for tourism and real estate development here. This is not to say “don’t come here”. I report this in order that visitors will not come here thinking this is some kind of paradise, but will be ever alert to the possibility of danger here, which is very, very real. In fact, Granada is very attractive, but not nearly as lovely as your photos.
The photos are not airbrushed! I wouldn’t even know how to do that, nor do I have any interest in doing so – this is a blog so I call it how I see it. I was very impressed with Granada – it was just a very attractive city and these photos are a pretty accurate representation of what I saw. The cathedral picture was taken at about 7am, when the light was best.
I didn’t personally see much garbage in Granada, nor did I smell any urine, or see any glue-sniffing boys or much evidence of homelessness. Even the horses seemed pretty well fed! Over all, apart from one roadside rubbish dump near Managua, Nicaragua was pretty clean, more so than many developing countries I’ve visited. Maybe I just got lucky?
Fair warning about the crime – I haven’t been able to verify the statistics on safety.
- Caitlin.