Museo de Comayagua | |
Established | June 6, 1940 |
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Location | Comayagua, Honduras |
Type | Archaeological Museum |
Collection size | Archaeological objects from antiquity to the present, including pre-Hispanic objects of Lenca origin and more |
Founder | Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History |
Website | Museo de Comayagua |
The Museum of Comayagua (also known until 2008 as the Regional Museum of Archeology of Comayagua) is an archaeological museum located in the city of Comayagua, Honduras, founded on June 6, 1940 and managed by the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History. The museum has ten exhibition rooms and an archaeological theme of the history of the Comayagua Valley from ancient times to the present day. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to the Lenca culture. The museum is housed in a historic Spanish colonial house built in the late 16th century with a long history of use as the Presidential House of Honduras among many other important historical uses. [1]
The property was built at the end of the 16th century as the private home of Francisco del Barco y Santiponce, the Spanish conqueror of San Jorge de Olancho. The house has a typical Spanish colonial design of a high class family of the time. After the death of Francisco del Barco y Santiponce, the house became the property of his granddaughter Juana del Barco. In the 18th century, the house became the property of Joaquín Fernández Lindo y Molina, councilor of the Comayagua City Council. His son, Juan Lindo, was a royal second lieutenant of the city and political chief and mayor of the province of Comayagua, then a deputy in the National Constituent Assembly and finally president of Honduras.
In 1804, the house was inhabited by the then dean of the Guatemalan Bar Association, Norberto Serrano Polo, legal advisor to the Comayagua Municipality. In 1862, in the Republican era, the property became the Presidential House of Honduras after being confiscated by President José María Molina in 1860. When the Honduran capital was transferred for the first time to Tegucigalpa, the house stopped working as the house presidential for a period until it became so when the government of Don Ponciano Leiva Madrid transferred the capital to Comayagua again.In 1880, when the capital was finally transferred permanently to Tegucigalpa, the house was no longer a presidential house for good.
From the end of the 19th century and until 1940 the house had various administrative functions of the city.In 1940 a part of the building is designated as a private museum.In the 1970s, the house became the property of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History under the name of "Museo Regional de Arqueología de Comayagua" .In 1995 it became the headquarters of the "Comayagua Colonial" program, being the pilot project, housing the offices of the Master Plan and the Workshop School. [2]
The museum was founded on June 6, 1940 as a private museum specializing in the archeology of the Comayagua Valley. In the 1970s it became the property of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History under the name of "Regional Museum of Archeology of Comayagua". In 1999 the building was restored and reopened to the public in December 1999. In 2008 the museum changed its name to Museo de Comayagua. [3] [ failed verification ]
The museum has a collection of archaeological objects from antiquity to the present with pre-Hispanic objects of Lenca origin from different periods and sites of pre-Columbian occupation in the Comayagua Valley. The museum has a collection with objects from El Chilcal, Tenampúa, Las Vegas and Salitrón. The museum also has objects from the Yarumela settlements in pre-Hispanic times, the founding of the city of Coamyagua as a Spanish city, the development of the city during the colonial and republican times, up to the present day.6 The collection includes polychrome ceramics from the Preclassic period of America, with jars, glasses and pieces of jade. The museum also has a public library and an auditorium for cultural events. [4] [ failed verification ]
Comayagua is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located 80 km (50 mi) northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and 594 m (1,949 ft) above sea level.
Intibucá is one of the 18 departments in the Republic of Honduras. Intibucá covers a total surface area of 1,186.1 square miles (3,072 km2). Its capital is the city of La Esperanza, in the municipality of La Esperanza.
The Lenca, also known as Lepa Wiran, meaning “Jaguar People” or “People of The Jaguar” are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik, but today are native speakers of Spanish. In Honduras, the Lenca are the largest tribal group, with an estimated population of more than 450,000.
La Esperanza is the capital city and a municipality of the same name of the department of Intibucá, Honduras. La Esperanza is famous for having the coolest climate in Honduras. It is considered the heart of the Ruta Lenca, a region of Lenca ethnic influence that spans Honduras from Santa Rosa de Copan to Choluteca. Sites on the Lenca Trail have been designated by the government and United Nations development in order to encourage more cultural tourism, and help create new markets for the traditional crafts, such as pottery, practiced by the Lenca, in order to preserve their culture.
La Paz is the capital city of the La Paz Department of Honduras. The town, founded in 1792, has a population of 32,450.
Victoriano Castellanos Cortes (1795–1862) was President of Honduras from 4 February 1862 to 4 December 1862.
Minas de Oro is a municipality in the Honduran department of Comayagua.
Siguatepeque is a city and municipality in the Honduran department of Comayagua. The city has a population of 79,520.
Hondurans are the citizens of Honduras. Most Hondurans live in Honduras, although there is also a significant Honduran diaspora, particularly in the United States, Spain, and many smaller communities in other countries around the world.
Honduras has been inhabited by a number of indigenous peoples, the most powerful of which, until the ninth century CE, were the Maya. The western-central part of Honduras was inhabited by the Lenca while other indigenous peoples settled in the northeast and coastal regions. These peoples had their conflicts but maintained commercial relationships with each other and with other populations as distant as Panama and Mexico.
Tegucigalpa —formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District, and colloquially referred to as Tegus or Teguz—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comayagüela.
Yarumela also known as El Chircal, is one of the archeological sites located in Honduras and based around the Middle Formative era in Mesoamerican history, occupied between 1000 BC and AD 250 by the ancestors of the Lencan culture also known as the Proto-lencan people. During its heyday at the end of the Preclassic mesoamerican period was a popular trade center, especially for precious commodities.
Honduras is a touristic destination that attracts visitors due to its natural environment, white and dark sand beaches, coral reefs, abundant flora and fauna, colonial era towns, and archaeological sites. Other attractions include the area's customs and traditional foods. In 2019 Honduras received 2.8 million foreigners, half of those tourists are cruise passengers.
The St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral is a Catholic temple in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is well known for being the biggest Catholic church during colonial times and one of the most well preserved historical buildings in Honduras.
The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises the Republic of Honduras, one of the seven states of Central America, was incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In 1502, the territory was claimed for the king of Spain by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final trip to the New World. The territory that now comprises Honduras was inhabited by a mix of indigenous peoples straddling a transitional cultural zone between Mesoamerica to the northwest, and the Intermediate Area to the southeast. Indigenous groups included Maya, Lenca, Pech, Miskitu, Mayangna (Sumu), Jicaque, Pipil and Chorotega. Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Sicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira.
The territory of current Honduras was inhabited by two culturally distinct peoples: the Maya civilization and the Nahua. Although the Mesoamerican influence was the one that remained as the dominant influence in the territory.
Honduras has rich folk traditions that derive from the fusion of four different cultural groups: indigenous, European, African and Creole. Each department or region, municipality, village and even hamlet contributes its own traditions including costumes, music, beliefs, stories, and all the elements that derive from and are transformed by peoples in a population. In sum, these define Honduran Folklore as expressed by crafts, tales, legends, music and dances.
The Presidential Palace of Honduras is the official residence of the president of the Republic of Honduras. Currently the president resides in the Palacio José Cecilio del Valle.
Intibucá is a city, with a population of 28,220, and a municipality in the department of Intibucá, Honduras. The urban area of Intibucá is an important transit and commercial site in the South-West region of Honduras. Located 1,850 meters above sea level, Intibucá has a cool and often foggy climate, hence the nickname "La ciudad del manto blanco". Potato production, celebrated by the annual Festival de la Papa, is the principal basis of the economy for the municipality.
Tenampúa is an archaeological site belonging to the Lenca culture dating from the Mesoamerican classical period, located in central Honduras in the Comayagua valley. It is known for having the interesting characteristic of having several mounds of between 6 and 15 meters and a fortress inside, in addition to being a place located in a mountainous area with difficult access. The area is also characterized by being full of pine trees and a cool climate hovering between 15 and 21 degrees Celsius in temperature and strong gusts of wind.