Rotonda Ruben Dario

Designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta and completed in Sep 1993, some find this unusual Catholic church to be fascinating. Some find the roof's 63 domes to be sleek and mosque-like.

Fresh water lagoon in the crater of an extinct volcano. As of 2016, the lake and its wooded shores, with some paths and stairs, were fenced off and were off limits to visitors. However, there's a good overview of it from the Loma de Tiscapa Park just north of the lagoon (see below).

The plaza-sized hilltop viewing platform on the northern lip of the crater of the Laguna de Tiscapa, known as Loma de Tiscapa, used to be the site of the presidential palace and the headquarters of the National Guard in the Somoza era (until they were destroyed in the earthquake of 1972); political prisoners were tortured in a prison close by. This is where you'll also find the landmark silhouette of Augusto C Sandino (with a little American tanquette next to it), as well as military memorials. The hill offers the best views in town, both to the downtown and Lake Managua to the north, and to the Carretera a Masaya area to the south. The Nicaraguan Army headquarters are located on the hill's northern slope, and are definitely not open to the public, though pedestrians are allowed on the street straight north from the hill, which is lined with large interpretive signs in Spanish about the military history of Nicaragua (from the Sandinista point of view, of course).

A diminutive arboretum, nice and shady.

Park featuring rides, artificial lake with duck peddle boats, and sports venues.

Your chance to see a lot of grayish-white concrete poured over AK-47s and one tank, which is supposed to symbolize everlasting peace in Nicaragua now that the Contra war is over, but this was largely replaced by Parque Luis Alfonso Velasquez Flores.