Casa de los Tres Mundos

In 1987, Ernesto Cardenal and Deitmar Schonherr purchased the former Casa de los Leones, a colonial style mansion in the center of Granada as the home for the organization that would become Casa de los Tres Mundos or The House of Three Worlds. Over the course of the next 20 years, the building was restored to include spaces for the archives of the City of Granada, offices for the Foundation, a small photographic laboratory, a library, a dormitory for visiting artists and scholars, an auditorium for concerts and other public events, workshops for artists, classrooms for painting courses, and classes in guitar, trumpet, trombone, horn, tuba, flute, clarinet, saxophone and piano.

In addition the Casa music school offers classes in choral singing, solfa, theory of music, chamber music classes and ensemble play. The Casa de los Tres Mundos has become a major cultural center in Granada, and indeed in Nicaragua and internationally.


In the past few years, a new endeavor within the Casa de los Tres Mundos has been initiated: the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IEI). This Institute has the unique mission to take the practice-centered work of the Casa de los Tres Mundos and connect it to a rigorous academic environment to

• Promote human welfare, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability.
• Support engagement between international and local forms of knowledge.
• Foster interdisciplinary research and interaction, with an emphasis on the humanities and social sciences.
• Facilitate research opportunities for national and international investigators.
• Promote dialogue between academic researchers and social advocates.
• Develop practice-centered research excellence in Nicaragua.
• Disseminate knowledge production derived from the Institute’s activities and participants.

I spent half a day wandering throughout the beautifully restored property, and was so impressed with the breadth and scope of the activities there. It also houses a museum with a permanent collection of contemporary art by Nicaraguan artists, and a historical and archaeological museum with a treasure trove of artifacts from Colonial and pre-Colonial times, as well as a mural recording the history and development of Granada.

For more information about this fabulous organization, visit their website at www.c3mundos.org.

It is a really gorgeous building, with a beautiful green courtyard, visual feasts for your eyes, and intellectual feasts for your mind! Be sure you add it to your stay in Nicaragua.