CONVENT AND CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO

Built in 1529 by Toribio Benevante Motolina, it is the city's first church and one of the oldest buildings in Central America. His chair, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, preached and defended the cause of the indigenous people… Because of many of the vicissitudes that punctuated the history of Granada, there remains no original building only the staircase. Note that the céruléenne facade is very photogenic in the evening when the sun is more tender. The adjoining museum (open from 9 a. m. to 18 p. m.; Entry US $ 2 per person, supplement to photograph) is interesting but not unforgettable. It presents the history of the city, the primitive paintings of the École school, some précolombiens or native objects, and above all the raw stone zoomorphes sculptures found on Zapatera Island (dated 800 to 1200 metres. ). The museum is located in a convent founded in 1529 and burned by Dampier in 1685. After the expulsion of religious orders in 1836, the convent became a university. Walker established his garrison in 1856, before he burned the building. Which, rebuilt again, housed the college of Granada, who later became the National Institute of Orient until 1975. The Swedish government helped restore it from 1989.