A university city of churches and volcanoes
León is a lively university city with a history as Nicaragua's liberal and intellectual heart. Its huge whitewashed cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and visitors can walk on its roof among white domes. Murals around the city tell the story of the revolution, and the Ortiz Gurdián Foundation displays a fine art collection in colonial houses. The poet Rubén Darío is buried in the cathedral. Nearby, Cerro Negro is a young volcano where people sandboard down black slopes, and the Pacific beaches of Las Peñitas are close.