Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Managua Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Managua The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Spanish: "Catedral Metropolitana de la Inmaculada Concepción de María"), referred to as the New Cathedral ("La Nueva Catedral"), is located in Managua, Nicaragua. It was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. The cathedral was built in 1991 to serve as a replacement for the Old Cathedral of Managua or St. James' Cathedral ("Catedral de Santiago"). The old cathedral was damaged and thought to be unrestoreable after a 1972 earthquake that destroyed 90% of the city. The new cathedral was designed by the Mexican architect
Managua and reconstruction programs were expanded. New governmental buildings, galleries, museums, apartment buildings, squares, promenades, monuments, boat tours on Lake Managua, restaurants, nighttime entertainment, and broad avenues have resurrected part of downtown Managua's former vitality. Commercial activity, however, remains low. Residential and commercial buildings have been constructed on the outskirts of the city, in the same locales that were once used as refuge camps for those who were homeless after the earthquake. These booming locales have been of concern to the government because of their close proximity to Lake Managua. The construction of a new sewer system and the redirecting of