Comayagua

THE BEST PRESERVED COLONIAL HISTORICAL CENTER OF HONDURAS

Countries
Honduras

Zones
Central

Themes
Culture

Located in an extensive valley bearing the same name, Comayagua is in the heart of the American continent, and in the center of the country. It was founded as a Villa on December 8, 1537 by Captain Alonzo de Cáceres, in the name of Carlos I, King of Spain. In 1543 King Felipe II, ordered that the court of justice known as the Audiencia de los Confines resided in the “Villa de la Concepción de Comayagua,” which gave it the name of Nueva Valladolid de Comayagua. As such, it was the capital of the Province of Honduras during the colony.

The Comayagua Regional Museum portrays in its different rooms the human occupation in the valley, from the cave art in the Cueva Pintada, to the cultural development in pre-Hispanic times, and then the colonial historical period, for having been the first capital of Honduras. The Museum of Religious Art shows the importance of the church in the rich collection of colonial religious art that includes sculptures, robes embroidered in gold threads, golden custodian clogs inlaid with emeralds, and multiple jewels of the saints.

The patron fair of Comayagua is held in honor of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. Due to its colonial origins, the traditions of the Catholic Church are practiced with great fervor, with the carpets being one of the most traditional artistic shows in Honduras. The carpets are made with multicolored sawdust by the parishioners who have mastered the technique to pay tribute to the suffering of Jesus during the procession of the Holy Way of the Cross on Good Friday. To spend the Holy Week in Comayagua is to have a reunion with faith inside a very well preserved historical center. To receive the new year, it is customary to ring the bell twelve times.