León Viejo, the ruins of the original colonial capital of Nicaragua, sits on the shore of Lake Managua about 90 minutes northwest of Managua. The city was buried by a series of volcanic eruptions from Momotombo beginning in 1610 and was not rediscovered until the 20th century. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Central America.
The excavated ruins include streets, church foundations, the governor's palace, and residential buildings — a cross-section of 16th-century Spanish colonial urban life frozen in volcanic ash. The site also contains the grave of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the founder of both León and Granada, who was executed here in 1526. The combination of the ruins, the volcanic landscape, and the lake setting makes it one of the most atmospheric sites in Nicaragua, and easily combined with a day trip to modern León.