Perhaps no city in America has suffered more from war than Leon. During the contest between the aristocrats and liberals which followed the declaration of independence, a large part, embracing the richest and best built portions, was destroyed by fire. Over one thousand buildings were burned in a single night. The great cathedral is surrounded by entire squares of ruins of what were once palaces. The lofty and elaborate archways, by which they were entered, still indicate their original magnificence. Entire streets, now almost deserted, are lined with the remains of large and beautiful edifices, destroyed in the civil wars. Within their abandoned courts stand rude cane huts,—as if in mockery of their former state. Leon was formerly one of the best built cities in all Spanish America. “It is,” says the old traveller, Gage, writing in 1665, “very curiously built; for the chief delight of the inhabitants consists in their houses, in the pleasure of the country adjoining, and in the abundance of all things for the life of man. They are content,” he adds, “with fine gardens, with the variety of singing birds and parrots, with plenty of fish and flesh, with gay houses, and so lead a delicious, lazy, and idle life, not aspiring much to trade and traffic, although they have the lake and ocean near them. The gentlemen of Leon are almost as gay and fantastical as those of Chiapas; and it is especially from the pleasure of this city that the province of Nicaragua is called Mahomet’s Paradise.”[18] ----- Footnote 18: The pirate, Dampier, in giving an account of the capture and burning of Leon by himself and his associates, says: “Our countryman, Mr. Gage, who travelled in these parts, recommends Leon as the pleasantest place in all America, and calls it the Paradise of the Indies. Indeed, if we consider the advantages of its situation, we may find it surpassing most places for health and pleasure in America; for the country about it is of a sandy soil, which soon drinks up all the rain which falls. It is encompassed with savannas, so that they have the benefit of the breezes which come from any quarter; all of which makes it a very healthy place.”—_Dampier’s Voyage round the World_, vol. i. p. 218. ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER, LEON.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------