Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua
LEGORRETA / Ricardo Legorreta · Managua, Nicaragua · 1993
Ricardo Legorreta’s cathedral replaces Managua’s earthquake-damaged historic cathedral with a radically different contemporary sacred complex. A low, brightly colored mass is punctuated by dozens of small domes that bring controlled daylight into the worship space, avoiding the conventional single monumental nave. Courtyards, thick walls and shaded circulation adapt Legorreta’s characteristic spatial language to the tropical city and to a major ecclesiastical program. The result is one of Central America’s most distinctive late-twentieth-century religious buildings.