Central American University (Managua) Central American University (Managua) Central American University – Managua ("Universidad Centroamericana" – UCA) is a university located in Managua, Nicaragua. It was founded in July 1960 by the Society of Jesus on land donated by the Somoza Family and was the first private university in Central America. It numbers among its alumni Daniel Ortega who did not graduate, Daisy Zamora, and Ernesto Leal. (Another Jesuit institution called "UCA" was founded in El Salvador in 1965 and is more fully named Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas.) Centro Superior de Idiomas (CSI) at UCA offers a variety of programs open to all
Managua the Old Cathedral of Managua was designed by Belgian architects, and the iron that was used to shape the core of the cathedral was shipped from Belgium. Construction lasted from 1928 to 1938, overseen by Pablo Dambach, who was a Belgian engineer residing in Managua. The architects had been inspired by the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France. The St. James' Cathedral became the first cathedral in the Western Hemisphere to be built entirely of concrete on a metal frame. The cathedral survived the 1931 earthquake, but was heavily damaged during the 1972 earthquake, which eventually led to the construction