San Rafael del Norte is a town in Jinotega Department in Nicaragua. It lies to the North of Jinotega, about a forty-minute bus ride along a road that is mostly paved, and getting more so every day. The Catholic church in town is home to several beautiful and well-done murals illustrating the usual tenets of the Catholic faith. One, in particular is noteworthy. The mural showing the Temptation of Jesus in the desert has achieved a local notoriety because many observers have noted that the face of the devil strongly resembles that of current Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. As the mural was painted in the 1960s, this similarity is either prescient or coincidental.
The murals were painted by a Swiss Artist , who was invited by Brother Odorico D'Andrea. an Italian priest who came to San Rafael del North in 1953. He was responsible for building health centers, bridges, as well as projects which provided drinking water and electrification. After his death in 1990, his body was found to be corrupt, which is usually considered one of the signs of sainthood. His stone casket lies in Templo Tepayec, a monument at the end of the main street through town, with a very visible set of steps leading up to it.