Volcán Momotombo, Stratovolcano on Lake Managua, Nicaragua.

Volcán Momotombo is a 1297-meter stratovolcano on the shore of Lake Managua in northwestern Nicaragua, recognizable by its nearly perfect symmetrical cone. The summit crater opens into an oval depression from which smoke and steam rise above the surrounding landscape.

The eruption in 1610 sent ash rains over the nearby colonial city of León and forced its inhabitants to establish a new settlement to the west. Further eruptions followed through the centuries, with a particularly active phase between 2015 and 2016 that left fresh lava flows on the slope.

The name Momotombo means "great boiling peak" in Nahuatl. The volcano appears on matchboxes and revolutionary murals as a symbol of Nicaragua. The poet Rubén Darío honoured it in his poem "Momotombo", and Victor Hugo mentioned it in La Légende des siècles.

To climb, obtain a permit and cross through the geothermal power plant on the southern flank, then follow the marked trail through the treeline. Above the trees the route changes constantly because of eruptions and landslides; the quickest way is straight up through the small avalanche paths. The summit is bare and it is possible to spend the night on it.

The lava flows on the northwestern flank have extended into the Monte Galán caldera, an older volcanic structure that partially surrounds the younger cone. Some of these flows formed during the most recent eruptive phase and remain black and unweathered.