[COMAYAGUA] Honduras' Ex

If La Ceiba claims to be Honduras’ girlfriend, then Comayagua can say that it has been Honduras’ ex. Ex-capital, that is. Located closer to Tegucigalpa, it is sort of in the middle of the highway plying the present capital and the economic backbone of the country, San Pedro Sula. Given its strategic location at the middle, I decided that I should designate it as a pitstop, not necessarily for tourism but just to rest. And so, what is there to see in Comayagua? Well, there’s a cathedral. Hooray, cathedral.

That’s all I saw there. It’s at the plaza and serves as the center of community life, as always. Comayagua is known to be THE city in Honduras with the best-preserved Spanish colonial architecture. As with many other small Hispanic towns, you will see cobblestoned alleys here as well as some old houses subscribing to that common colonial era theme, pastel colors and all. As for the church, it does have a rather simple façade, which makes me wonder if it’s more grandiose inside.

I guess I’ll never know because I didn’t even bother to go inside anymore. It is said to have been built in the mid 1500’s, making it one of the oldest in the country. Anyway, transferring of capital cities! What gives? It seemed like a common trend in Central America for various reasons but mostly political for many. Remember how Guatemala City became the capital after Antigua was leveled by a volcanic eruption? Natural causes. Remember how Managua became the capital perhaps to veer away from the rivalry of Granada and León? Historical. As for Honduras, everything seemed to be political.

From what I understood, two opposing factions resulting from the struggle for independence from Spain took camp in Tegus and Comayagua. Eventually, the latter lost that political battle and Tegucigalpa became the capital. Perhaps what Tegus will never have, though, is the splendor of Comayagua’s rich colonial history, but then again when you are establishing a new republic that’s the very thing you try to abolish for the sake of nation building. And so, Comayagua lost its importance.

But it’s probably going to be prominent again now that the new Palmerola Airport has been opened to the public. The plan is to turn it into the country’s primary gateway, diverting traffic from the geographically dangerous Toncontín Airport in Tegus to Pamerola’s relatively flatter terrain. But isn’t San Pedro Sula’s airport the main air hub of the country? I don’t know. But whatever. Unless they make going to and coming from that new airport more accessible, it’ll probably take some time for people to get used to it. But yeah, at least it can be the start of Comayagua’s resurgence, fingers crossed.

I mean, the town can always bank on its history as a tourist draw. I believe it also has a lot to offer as far as nature tripping is concerned. As for me, I was just bored stiff there for a day or two, which did not pose that big of a problem for me because it was a chillax pitstop anyway. But yeah, to be totally blunt about it, there was nothing much to see for me. The colonial Spanish architecture, I’ve already seen many times somewhere else.

[COMAYAGUA] Honduras' Ex

[COMAYAGUA] Budget and Itinerary