Former names: Villa de Tegucigalpa[note 1]; Real Villa de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa y Heredia[note 2]; Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa[note 3]
Tegucigalpa, officially Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central and abbreviated as Tegucigalpa, M. D. C.,[note 4] is the capital and seat of government of the Republic of Honduras, together with its twin city Comayagüela, according to Articles 8 and 295 of the current Constitution of Honduras.[3][4]
Although as early as 1536 the small settlement on the banks of the Choluteca River basin (today the Historic Center) was known by the peculiar name of Taguzgalpa, it is with the arrival of the Spaniards in the region in search of minerals that September 29, 1578 is recognized as the day that marks its founding under the name Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa. Three centuries later, on October 30, 1880, it became the capital of the country, during the presidency of Marco Aurelio Soto.[5]
During the short existence of the Political Constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America, between 1824 and 1839, Tegucigalpa was declared a federal district and capital of the states then united in a single nation: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.[6] After this failed attempt to preserve a Central American republic, Honduras returned to being a single, independent country, and on January 30, 1937, Article 179 of the Honduran Constitution of 1936 was amended under Decree No. 53, establishing Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as the Distrito Central. On December 9 of the same year it was ratified under Decree No. 2.[7]
The Distrito Central lies in the south-central mountainous region of Honduras in the department of Francisco Morazán, of which it is also the departmental seat.[8] The metropolitan area of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela lies in a valley surrounded by mountains, and the two, being twin cities, are geologically separated by the basin of the Choluteca River, which runs through them.[9] The Distrito Central is the largest and most populous municipality of Francisco Morazán and the fourteenth largest in Honduras.[10] Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela together form the largest and most populous city in Honduras.
The capital is the political and administrative center of the country, home to 23 embassies and 16 consulates representing 39 countries from around the world diplomatically and consularly.[11][12] It is the seat of most public agencies and state enterprises, among them ENEE and Hondutel, the national energy and telecommunications companies, respectively.[13] It is also home to the national football team and to the main campus and rectorate of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), the country's highest institution of learning. The international airport, Toncontín, has acquired worldwide fame and infamy for its extremely short runway for an international-class airport, which forces pilots to perform somewhat irregular maneuvers during takeoff and landing to avoid the surrounding mountains.[14][15]
The Alcaldía Municipal del Distrito Central (AMDC) is the governing authority of the city and municipality,[16] headed by a mayor and 10 councillors who form the Corporación Municipal, the executive-legislative body of the municipality.[17] As the departmental seat, it is the seat of the departmental political governor of Francisco Morazán. For 2013, the Alcaldía approved a budget of more than three billion lempiras (US$153.5 million),[18] and accumulated a debt of over one billion lempiras (US$50 million),[19] partly to finance the infrastructure projects being undertaken by the current municipal administration.
The capital's infrastructure has not kept pace with its demographic explosion.[20][21] The lack of adequate planning,[22] dense and disorderly urbanization, together with socio-economic phenomena such as poverty and crime, are scourges of daily life.[23][24] The main thoroughfares are the scene of traffic jams, since the current road network cannot cope with the more than 400,000 vehicles that use them daily.[25] Both the national and the municipal governments have developed projects to increase infrastructure and alleviate poverty in the city.[26][27]
Tegucigalpa in the 19th century, in an illustration from "The Capitals of Spanish America"File:Tegucigalpa 1920.jpgPhotographic restoration from 1920; in the background are the old presidential house and the Mallol bridge connecting Tegucigalpa and ComayagüelaFile:TGU2.jpgStatue of Pope John Paul II in Tegucigalpa.View of Tegucigalpa from El Picacho.
Most sources suggest that the origin and meaning of the word Tegucigalpa derive from the Nahuatl language.[28] Its exact meaning is open to different interpretations, but the version most widespread in popular belief is that it derives from the Nahua word Taguz-galpa, meaning hills of silver. Among historians such as the Honduran Jesús Aguilar Paz, this interpretation is uncertain, since the aboriginal inhabitants were unaware of the presence of mineral deposits in the region. Who determined the hills of silver meaning, or when, has been lost to history; one theory is that it was the Spaniards, and not the natives, who called the region so after the discovery of its mineral wealth.[29]
The Mexican polymath Antonio Peñafiel, in his book "Nomenclatura geográfica de México" (1897), defines the word Tegucigalpa as a corruption of Tecutli-cal-pa, meaning [lord] in the royal palaces.[30] Another belief among Mexican historians such as José Ignacio Dávila Garibi and Alfredo Barrera Vásquez holds that Tegucigalpa comes from the Nahua word Tecuztlicallipan, translated as place of residence of the nobles, or possibly from the word Tecuhtzincalpan, meaning place above the house of the beloved lord or hill of the wise.[31]
The Honduran philologistAlberto de Jesús Membreño, in his book "Nombres Geográficos Indígenas de la República de Honduras" (1901) (republished in 1994 as "Toponimias indígenas de Centroamérica"), completely rejects the traditional hills of silver and argues that Tegucigalpa derives from the Nahua word Teguycegalpa, meaning in the houses of the pointed stones. Membreño defends his interpretation by pointing out that Taguzgalpa was the ancient name of the eastern region of Honduras, a word meaning in the houses of the yellow earth.[32]
The AustrianAmericanistlinguistRodolfo R. Schuller proposes that the word Tegucigalpa means place where the house of the dawn is,[33] while the Guatemalan researcher Flavio Rodas Noriega promoted a discussion of the etymological origin of Tegucigalpa and proposed that the term derives from Totogalpa, a reference to Tototi, a Nahua word meaning bird, and/or to toncontín, another Nahua term whose meaning is dance of the Mexican Indians. For his part, the Honduran writer Rafael Heliodoro Valle wrote that the name is Teguiazkalpa, whose etymology means the region of the hills of the venerable elders.
The Honduran author and historian Leticia de Oyuela, in her book "Historia Mínima de Tegucigalpa" (1989), considers the idea that the word Tegucigalpa derives from another language in which it means painted stones.[34] The Honduran anthropologist Gloria Lara Pinto, in her contribution entitled "Dicotomía de una ciudad: Las raíces indígenas de Tegucigalpa y Comayagüela" (2011) for the Revista Paradigma of the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University, proposes that it is a derivation of Teguzigalpa or Tecuzincalpan and means in the land of the little lord.[35] The Honduran historian Mario Felipe Martínez Castillo, in his pocket book "Lecturas de la capital de Honduras" (2012), stresses that Tegucigalpa cannot mean hills of silver for the reasons already investigated by previous researchers, and therefore suggests that it comes from the Lenca language and means place where the lords meet.[36][37]
History
Founding, viceregal period and independence
Urban map of Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.
In its beginnings it was settled by a group of Spaniards who were looking for veins of silver at the site around 1560; later, with the growth of the mining settlement, it became known on September 29, 1578 by the name Real Villa de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa de Heredia, on top of an existing old indigenous settlement. At that time the Tegucigalpa area was a center of mining activity where silver and gold in particular were extracted.
The first mayor of Tegucigalpa, Juan de la Cueva, never imagined that that charming and picturesque city would years later become the most important area of Honduras, housing the main offices of the State and of the private sector.
It was founded in 1578 as a mining center, and de la Cueva was appointed mayor in 1579. The town was named "Real Minas de Tegucigalpa", obtaining the title of Villa de San Miguel de Heredia.
Throughout the viceregal period the villa had a mining character, with minerals extracted from El Picacho hill and in the mountainous area of San Juancito. When the country's independence came, the status of capital of the Republic of Honduras passed from Tegucigalpa to Comayagua and back on several occasions, until in 1880 it was definitively established in Tegucigalpa.
In 1817, on the initiative of the mayor Narciso Mallol, construction began on a masonry bridge of seven arches over the Choluteca River. The work, finished four years later, joined Tegucigalpa with the neighboring town of Comayagüela, on the opposite bank of the river.[38] Today it is popularly known as the Mallol Bridge.
In 1821 it was raised to the rank of city. In 1824, the first congress of the Republic of Honduras decreed that Tegucigalpa and Comayagua, the two main cities of the country, would alternate as capital of the State, until on October 30, 1880 the seat of Government was definitively moved to the city of Tegucigalpa as capital of the State; it was decreed that the civil authorities would reside there, except the Supreme Court of Justice, which would reside in Comayagua, and the offices dependent on the Supreme Government were moved immediately.
In 1875, during the presidency of Captain General José María Medina, the construction of a new General Cemetery of Tegucigalpa was ordered, located in Comayagüela; it was finished in 1877 and inaugurated during the presidency of Marco Aurelio Soto. In March 1995 the National Congress declared the General Cemetery "National Cultural Heritage", ending the sale of new plots and ordering its protection and care.
From 1898 it was provided that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, the two neighboring cities on either bank of the Choluteca, would form the capital, but keeping separate names, with two municipal governments. At that time they had some 40,000 inhabitants, and the Distrito Central, including surrounding towns, numbered more than 50,000 souls.
Tegucigalpa has grown over the last 50 years, but it has become a disorganized city because of the lack of planning. Migration from the countryside to the city has increased the capital's population, especially on the nearby land located on the slopes of the numerous hills, much of it lacking urban development.
The city of Tegucigalpa is in constant growth. At present, the poles of residential development point toward the south of the city, from Toncontín airport to the area of the Los Laureles dam, and as dormitory towns there are, in the northeastern area, the municipalities of Santa Lucía and Valle de Ángeles.
1910 image of a bridge over the Choluteca River in Tegucigalpa
On October 30, 1998 the city suffered major damage from the passage of Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed part of Comayagüela and the places bordering the Grande or Choluteca River. The hurricane remained over Honduran territory for five days, so the ground could not absorb so much rain, and together with deforestation this caused serious flooding throughout the country, mainly in Tegucigalpa.
The swelling of the tributaries of the Grande or Choluteca River made it rise above the height of the Juan Ramón Molina bridge, which was swept away by the current and quickly replaced by a Bailey bridge.
The rains also caused landslides in the area of El Berrinche hill. These landslides swept away most of the Soto neighborhood, whose debris fell into the river basin, forming a dam at the height of that neighborhood; this dam held back the waters of the Grande or Choluteca River and caused flooding in the low-lying parts of Comayagüela, destroying the old establishments located near Calle Real. In other areas the current brought down hills, mounts and mountain slopes, carrying away entire neighborhoods, buildings, parks, automobiles, etc. The most affected areas were those located near rivers.
Tegucigalpa is currently undergoing notable growth in several very important respects.
Panorama of Tegucigalpa.
Historic center
The Manuel Bonilla National Theater
The historic center of Tegucigalpa preserves some interesting examples of viceregal architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries; the most important religious buildings are:
According to the results of the 2001 Population and Housing Census of the National Statistics Institute (INE), the population of the Distrito Central, which comprises the cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, was 906,129 inhabitants.[citation needed] In 2010 the population of the Distrito Central numbered 1,126,534 inhabitants according to INE projections.[1]
Tegucigalpa lies in a chain of mountains at altitudes of 935 meters (3,068 feet) at its lowest points and 1,463 meters (4,800 feet) at its highest level in suburban areas. Like most of the interior highlands of Honduras, most of the present surface of Tegucigalpa was occupied by open forests. The area surrounding the city still supports open pine forest mixed with some oak, scrub and grassy clearings, as well as needle-leaved evergreen and broad-leaved deciduous forests.
Tegucigalpa, together with Comayagüela, constitutes the capital of Honduras. The Choluteca River, which crosses the city from north to south, physically separates Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela; while Tegucigalpa lies on the right bank of the Grande or Choluteca River, Comayagüela is in the western sector of the city, close to the airport. Both cities are located in the municipality of the Distrito Central, constitutional seat of the Government of the Republic of Honduras and of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa.
The city is made up of gentle hills, and the ring of mountains surrounding the city tends to trap pollution.
There is a reservoir known as "Embalse Los Laureles" west of the city, providing 30 percent of the city's water supply, as well as a water treatment plant south of the city about 7.3 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the airport, part of the Concepción reservoir only 6 km (3.7 miles) southwest of the water plant.
Economy
Tegucigalpa is the city with the highest Human Development Index in Honduras, 0.859, much higher than that of San Pedro Sula (0.720), although it remains lower than the rest of the Central American capitals, exceeding only Managua, Nicaragua.
Climate
Like much of central Honduras, the city has a tropical climate, though tempered by altitude, which means it is less humid than the lower valleys and coastal regions. It has two seasons: the dry, cool season, which begins in November and ends in March, and the rainy, warm season, which begins in April and ends in October.
The average number of hours of sunshine per month during the year is 211.2, and the average number of rainy days per month is 8.9. The average number of hours of sunshine during the dry season is 228 per month, while 182.5 millimeters (7.19 inches) is the average monthly precipitation during the wet season. The rainiest months of the rainy season are May–June and September–October, with an average of 16.2 days of rain during those periods.
Pollution has been one of the main problems affecting the city for some decades now. During some months of the year the city is covered by an extensive layer of smog, which may be produced by the burning of toxic waste or of forests near the city, as well as by the smoke expelled by the large number of vehicles circulating in the metropolis. It can also be caused by the combustion of coal, wood or biomass.
In May2014, a study revealed that Tegucigalpa is the city with the most polluted air in Central America, and one of the most polluted capitals in Latin America (along with Mexico City, Lima, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile and Guatemala City, among others). Urban pollution in Tegucigalpa also causes economic decline, since the country suffers annual losses of up to one billion lempiras.
Politics and government
As the capital of Honduras, as a departmental seat and as a municipality, the Distrito Central is the seat of three governments: the national government, the departmental government and the municipal government.[41] Before 1991, the central government exercised greater jurisdiction over the conduct of municipal management throughout the country, which caused uneven administrative representation and an inadequate distribution of resources and governance.[42] As a result, at the end of 1990, under Decree No. 134-90, the National Congress of Honduras approved the Municipalities Law, giving a clearer definition to municipal and departmental institutions, their representatives and their functions, in order to give autonomy to local governments and decentralize them from the national government.[43]
Although autonomous, the Distrito Central is influenced by the national government, since its territory is the seat of the government of the republic. Important changes in the political structure of the municipality and the financing of large projects must be presented to the Presidential Office and approved by the National Congress before being executed by the local government.[44]
Distrito Central
Sign welcoming visitors to the Distrito Central - Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, located at the limits of the municipality.
The Municipality of the Distrito Central is constitutionally the capital of Honduras, while Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela are two entities within the municipality, which in their time were cities and municipalities in their own right until they were incorporated into a single municipality and a single city, because of the need to establish government offices on both sides of the Choluteca River basin.
The current Constitution of Honduras, in its Title I, Chapter I, Article 8, declares:
The cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, jointly, constitute the capital of the Republic.
In addition, in its Title V, Chapter XI, Article 295, it declares:
The Distrito Central is formed, in a single municipality, by the former municipalities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela.
Tegucigalpa is popularly identified as the capital, since it was Tegucigalpa that held that title before sharing it with Comayagüela. Although legally and politically speaking they are a single city, traditionally they are still identified as two sister or twin cities, given the history behind their beginnings.
Today, it is correct to say that Tegucigalpa is the capital of Honduras; it is also correct to say that Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, together, are the capital of Honduras; and finally, since its formation on January 30, 1937 under Decree No. 53 of the amended Article 179 of the Honduran Constitution of 1936, it is correct to say that the Distrito Central is the capital.
Panorama of downtown Tegucigalpa from the Hotel Maya.
It should be noted that in Honduras municipalities are defined as administrative divisions of the departments and not necessarily as a single city, so a municipality may contain more than one city or town, including its municipal seat, which in Honduras tends to be the city of the same name and the most populous of the municipality; although for administrative and legal purposes, the municipal government is the authority within the seat city and the rest of the municipality.
For example, the Municipality of the Distrito Central is the most populous municipality in Honduras, and the metropolitan area of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela forms the largest and most populous city in the country; even so, the Distrito Central is not the largest municipality in Honduras in terms of administrative surface (territory). Although it is the largest municipality of Francisco Morazán, it is only the fourteenth largest in Honduras, there being 13 larger municipalities in terms of administrative area but not of population. The two largest municipalities in Honduras are Puerto Lempira and Catacamas, in the departments of Gracias a Dios and Olancho, respectively.[10]
Tegucigalpa
Another example can be seen in the city of La Ceiba, municipal seat of the municipality of the same name, one of the eight municipalities of the Atlántida Department. La Ceiba is the largest city in Atlántida and the third largest city in Honduras in terms of population and urban area, but the Municipality of La Ceiba is only the second largest municipality in Atlántida, the Municipality of Tela being the largest in that department, though less populous, so the city of Tela is not considered the largest city in Atlántida.[10]
In addition to the urban area of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, the Distrito Central also has 41 villages (aldeas) and 293 hamlets (caseríos); these are small settlements in the rural areas of the municipality whose populations vary from a few dozen in the smallest hamlets to a few thousand in the most populous villages. For administrative purposes, municipal law allows auxiliary mayors and/or boards (patronatos) to be assigned to them to act as local representatives.
Central and departmental government
Headquarters of the National Statistics Institute (INE) and of the Public Ministry (MP), located in Residencial Lomas del Guijarro.The Embassy of the United States on Avenida La Paz in Colonia San Carlos.
The Distrito Central is the political and administrative center of Honduras. It is the seat of the three branches of the national government and their dependencies, including most public agencies and state enterprises. The capital is the seat of all the diplomatic missions present in Honduras, with the exception of the Philippines, whose consulate in the country is in San Pedro Sula. Currently 23 embassies and 16 consulates are located in Tegucigalpa, representing all the Central American countries, most of the South American ones, 14 European countries including Russia, three Caribbean countries, two Asian countries, Canada, the United States, Mexico and South Africa.
The official residence and office of the Executive, the Presidential House, is located on Bulevar Juan Pablo II in Colonia Los Profesionales; the National Congress is in the Historic Center of Tegucigalpa on Calle Bolívar in Barrio La Merced; and the Supreme Court of Justice is in the Government Civic Center, located beside the interchange of Bulevar Fuerzas Armadas and Bulevar Kuwait, south of the Mall Las Cascadas shopping center. The capital is also the seat of the National Police, of the Armed Forces and of most of the country's financial institutions, both public and private.
The Distrito Central is also the seat of the government of the department of Francisco Morazán, headed by the departmental political governor. The governor is appointed by the president of the republic and is in turn the representative of the national executive at the departmental level. Historically, the departmental political governor has had a less visible role in the political and administrative framework of the country at the departmental and municipal level, to the point that its incumbents have declared that the governor needs more evident autonomy and authority, as happens in other countries such as Mexico and the United States. The current political governor is Rigoberto Herrera of the National Party, for the 2010–2014 term, and he earns a monthly base salary of 35,000 lempiras (US$1,725).[45]
At the national level, the department of Francisco Morazán is represented by 23 of the 128 deputies who make up the National Congress. Likewise, the Distrito Central, like the rest of the municipalities, is a member of the Association of Municipalities of Honduras (AMHON), which looks after municipal interests within the civil and political framework of the country and acts as a liaison at the national level.
Local government
Local government takes shape within a system in which the executive and legislative powers are representative (elected by popular vote) and shared (mayor and councillors), governed by the Municipalities Law, which came into force on January 1, 1991. The Alcaldía Municipal del Distrito Central (AMDC) is the governing authority of the city and municipality, whose seat of government is in the Historic Center of Tegucigalpa, facing the Central Park. As established by the Municipalities Law, the AMDC is structured as a Corporación Municipal, which is the deliberative body of the municipality, elected by the people and the highest authority within the municipal territory.[46]
The Corporación Municipal is made up of a mayor, who acts as chief executive, general administrator and legal representative of the municipality,[47] and a vice mayor, who takes over the mayor's post when required and supervises functions within the AMDC as the mayor directs.[48] The mayor and vice mayor earn a monthly base salary of L.61,000 (US$3,000) and L.55,000 (US$2,700), respectively.[49]
The Corporación Municipal also includes ten councillors, who constitute the legislative and deliberative power within the municipality and, together with the mayor, carry out the obligations delegated to them by the Municipalities Law, including the administration of the municipality, its budgetary rules and the enactment of laws and ordinances at the municipal level. The councillors earn a monthly base salary of L.55,000 (US$2,700).[49]
A general manager, appointed by the mayor, acts as chief auditor in charge of the management, collection and distribution of the municipal government's funds. A municipal secretary, also appointed by the mayor, acts as legal officer in charge of the official record of all legal proceedings. The Corporación Municipal also has a Municipal Development Council, which acts as an advisory cabinet in all of the city's areas of focus, such as social development, security, public services, etc.
The Government Civic Center, home of the Supreme Court of Justice and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Current administration
The current mayor of the Distrito Central is Nasry Juan Asfura Zablahz, who belongs to the National Party (PNH), after winning the election in November 2013. Asfura is the eighth person elected to the post of Mayor of the Distrito Central since local elections were restored in 1986. Before 1986, the local government of the Distrito Central, known as the Metropolitan Council, was appointed by the President of the Republic. This is the ninth election since then.
Of the ten current councillors, seven are men and three are women. Five belong to the National Party, while two others belong to the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), two belong to the Liberal Party (PLH) and one belongs to the Anti-Corruption Party (PAC).
Both the mayor and the councillors are elected to a four-year term by the voters of the Distrito Central. The removal of the mayor or of any councillor for any reason is reserved to the Ministry of the Interior and Population (formerly the Ministry of Government and Justice).
The Mayor of Tegucigalpa is Engineer Nasry Asfura, who was elected to administer the government of the capital for the 2014–2018 term (current).
Corporación Municipal 2014–2018
The present administration has the following organization:
Title
Name
Political party
Mayor
Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah
National Party
Vice Mayor
Juan Carlos García Medina
National Party
First Councillor
Martin Stuar Fonseca Zúñiga
National Party
Second Councillor
José Javier Velázquez Cruz
National Party
Third Councillor
Erick Ricardo Amador Aguilera
National Party
Fourth Councillor
Rafael Edgardo Barahona Osorio
Libre Party
Fifth Councillor
Marcia Facusse Andonie
Liberal Party
Sixth Councillor
Jorge Alberto Zelaya Munguía
National Party
Seventh Councillor
María Luisa Borjas Vásquez
Libre Party
Eighth Councillor
José Carlenton Dávila Mondragón
Anti-Corruption Party
Ninth Councillor
Faiz Salvador Sikaffi Canahuati
Liberal Party
Tenth Councillor
Silvia Consuelo Montalvan Matute
National Party
Budget
The municipal government's budget for 2016 is 4,200 million lempiras. The GDP per capita is one hundred fifty thousand lempiras.[50][51]
Law and order
The National Police of Honduras, through the Preventive National Police, is the uniformed authority in charge of preserving public order and enforcing the law. The National Police has its headquarters in the Distrito Central in Colonia Casamata. Metropolitan Headquarters No. 1 is the designation of the municipality's police department. It has seven police districts within the metropolitan area.
Police districts
Headquarters
District 1-1
El Edén
District 1-2
El Manchén
District 1-3
San Miguel
District 1-4
Kennedy
District 1-5
El Belén
District 1-6
La Granja
District 1-7
San Francisco
For 2011, the Ministry of Security allocated 2,162 million lempiras (US$114 million) to public security and criminal investigation in the Distrito Central.
As established by the Police and Social Coexistence Law, municipalities may finance their own municipal police, and the Distrito Central currently operates a Municipal Police made up of approximately 160 officers, some of them assigned to the city's tourist areas. There is also the Traffic Police, a dependency of the National Police, in charge of enforcing the laws of the public road. The Municipal Department of Justice, through the Municipal Police Court, processes local infractions.
The Public Ministry of Honduras, headquartered in the Distrito Central and with nationwide jurisdiction through its regional prosecutor's offices, is in charge of investigating crimes and bringing public criminal action on behalf of Honduran society. The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, also headquartered there, exercises the legal representation of the State in defense of its interests.
Tegucigalpa is characterized by its varied and interesting cultural character. The city has great cultural value that has been attracting many people in recent decades; it is characterized by its beautiful style, at once viceregal and modern, which makes it a very special place.
The city celebrates several fairs, such as the Tegucigalpa Anniversary Fair on September 29; this festivity seeks to bring out the best in the capital's residents and is a time of year that is always very satisfying for getting together.
Other fairs are also held, such as AGAFAM (Fair of the Association of Cattle Ranchers and Farmers of Francisco Morazán), the Horse Fair and the Entrepreneur's Fair.
There are many cultural centers in Tegucigalpa; among them are:
The Manuel Bonilla National Theater is one of the most prestigious institutions in the city. Inaugurated in 1905, its halls are devoted to first-class musical and theatrical events. More than 10,000 musical and theatrical performances and operas have been held at the Manuel Bonilla National Theater, in performances held daily in several shows during the day and night. Other special events are also held during the year. It fosters the organization and promotion of various high-quality stage performances (Theater, Dance and Music), both national and international, with the primary aim of raising the cultural and spiritual level of the residents of the capital city.
Teatro Renacimiento.
"Mercedes Agurcia Membreño" National School of Dance (MAM).
Danza Libre School.
National School of Music
The National Art Gallery: in its premises one breathes a love of art, and its viceregal architecture is pervaded by the peaceful atmosphere of past times. From rock art, pre-Hispanic stone sculpture and pre-Columbian ceramics to viceregal painting and religious art in silver, one can enjoy and admire a true cultural banquet. Visiting the premises of the National Art Gallery in Tegucigalpa means taking an interesting tour through the history of Honduran art, in an institution considered national heritage. The National Art Gallery is the main project of the Fundación Pro Arte y Cultura (Fundarte).
Tegucigalpa has some libraries, present in only a few areas of the capital, leaving most of the capital and school areas without access to public libraries. Several "book fairs" have also been held in Tegucigalpa.
In addition, Honduras has several museums with different themes, among them:
The capital has a limited number of libraries, among them:
The National Library of Honduras (1880): the National Library of Honduras is a library containing more than forty thousand volumes; it embodies the dream of its founder, Doctor Antonio Ramón Vallejo, and the dreams of its promoter, Doctor Ramón Rosa, secretary of government of Marco Aurelio Soto. It is an institution of public utility, dependent on the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports, whose mission is to collect, catalog, classify, preserve and disseminate all the documentary production published in the country and abroad. It is located in the old house where General Francisco Morazán was born; this old house was also the "Casa de la Moneda" (Mint) (1780), and in 1830 it served for the meetings of the National Congress. Between 1859 and 1876 it served as a barracks, and later, in 1898, the National Printing Office was installed there; and for the record, coins stopped being minted there in 1926.
The city of Tegucigalpa also has the Library of the National Autonomous University of Honduras to support the development of research, teaching and study, providing access to the necessary information resources, whether the University's own or external. The various service points serve the entire university community and are offered in 10 university centers, each with several faculty libraries, a Learning Resources Center and specialized museums.
Museums
Chiminike Children's Museum located on Boulevard Fuerzas Armadas in Tegucigalpa.
The capital of Honduras has interesting museums, among which are the following:
Villaroy National Museum: considered, for its architectural value, a characteristic monument within the urban context of Tegucigalpa. It was built between 1936 and 1940 by Samuel Salgado, with a marked Italian influence, within a Palladian scheme.
Museum of the Honduran Man: offers visitors three halls of pictorial exhibitions by Honduran painters and the Reina Sofía Library specializing in art, among others. It also houses the Miguel Ángel Gómez Restoration Workshop, where more than 400 works of religious heritage have been recovered. It is private and run by the Fundación Museo del Hombre Hondureño (FMHH). One of the foundation's greatest achievements was obtaining the Casa Ramón Rosa, the present seat of the cultural center, where the Supreme Court of Justice used to operate.
The Military History Museum is located in the building of the San Francisco Barracks; this museum has a selection of personal items and photographs of the illustrious military heroes and strongmen of Honduras. It also has a hall with antique and modern firearms.
The Telecommunications Museum aims to safeguard the historical heritage constituted by the equipment and documentation, as well as the building of the Telecommunications Palace itself.
Museum for National Identity (MIN): it is a permanent non-profit institution open to the public, at the service of society and its development, which acquires, preserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, the material and intangible evidence of the people who inhabited and inhabit Honduran territory, in order to strengthen historical memory and the sense of national identity.
Those who have not had the opportunity to visit the archaeological site of the ruins of Copán will find, at the Museum for National Identity,[52] an auditorium that shows, in an advanced technological version, the main city of the Maya in Honduras: Copán. The Auditorium of the archaeological site of Copán[53] at the MIN allows visitors to have an imaginary experience and be transported in space and time to the period when Copán was at its greatest splendor.
The Honduras Air Museum, located near Toncontín International Airport, has some of the flying machines with which the History of aviation in Honduras began, offering a view beyond what those times of prosperity were. This museum foundation has pieces unique in the world, such as the fighter aircraft flown by Fernando Soto Henríquez in the Football War of 1969, the last of its type to have emerged victorious in aerial combat, as well as other models that were part of the history of the Honduran Air Force; the museum also has videos, photographs, scale models, plans, etc.
La Leona Park, where one can enjoy a great view of the city; it is a good place to relax and enjoy the city.
The Picacho or United Nations National Park has an impressive view from its viewpoints and is the ideal place to take excellent photographs of the city. Here you will also find a small zoo of native species of Honduras and the monument El Cristo del Picacho. This park was opened to the public on August 2, 1946.
The Cerro Juana Laínez promenade has been an icon of civic and military history; it is currently an unmistakable symbol of Tegucigalpa, with its monument to Peace. It is one of the main viewpoints from which the four cardinal points of the city can be seen, as well as an ecological lung worth preserving; a forest firefighters' base has recently been established here. Although it has not been developed for tourist use as it should be, since the necessary service and safety conditions do not exist, it is still much visited; it is often used as a practice area before the national parades... and for other kinds of "quasi-student" practices. Various ceremonies are held, among them the firing of cannons and the raising of the flag for the September and October festivities.
The Central Park is located in front of the Cathedral of San Miguel and is one of the busiest parks in the city; various activities of great interest take place there, and one can also have a good time.
Plaza España (Alfonso XIII park) is a park and viewpoint offering ample spaces for rest and recreation as well as matchless views of the Bulevar Morazán and El Hatillo area. In the center of the octagonal square stands a statue of His Majesty King Alfonso XIII of Spain.
The Redondel de los Artesanos Park, next to the Spanish Cultural Center in Colonia Palmira, has an open-air municipal auditorium where concerts, plays and fairs are held, and it is the starting point for the Recreovías por la Paz on the third Sunday of each month. It was inaugurated on October 1, 1973 with the traditional Artisans' Fair that gives it its name. It also has a statue dedicated to the primitivist painter José Antonio Velásquez.
The fastest way to get from one point to another in the city is via the "Quinto Centenario" ring road. This ring road covers the east side of the city of Tegucigalpa and is also connected to the national highway, where the national branches lead to the north of the country (toward San Pedro Sula), to the south (toward Nicaragua) and other exits toward nearby towns.
Tegucigalpa is connected with the rest of the country and abroad by various paved highways. The main one heads to the north of the country, another to the south (connecting with the Pan-American Highway) and a third to the east.
The city has under construction the Metrobús Tegucigalpa public transport project, begun in 2010, one stage of which was inaugurated on January 24, 2014.
Tegucigalpa's main airport is Toncontín International Airport, located in the south of the city. This airport is considered one of the most dangerous in the world because of the proximity of a mountain range and a relatively short runway;[54] for several years attempts have been made to replace it with the airport of Palmerola, in Comayagua, where a United States air base currently operates.[55]
Toncontín has been significantly improved through the works carried out by the Corporación Aeroportuaria de Tegucigalpa and Interairports, a private company contracted by the government to administer the country's four international airports. Previously, Toncontín had only a runway 1,863 meters long. In 2009 it was extended by 300 meters, of which 150 meters are usable runway, 60 meters runway safety strip and 90 meters leveled safety area at the end of the runway.[56] The altitude of the runway is 1,033 m above sea level.
The largest recreational and sports center in Tegucigalpa is the Villa Olímpica. Admission is free; it has an Olympic stadium, a baseball park, swimming pools, several gyms, basketball and tennis courts, ample car parking and green areas for rest. It can be easily reached via the city's ring road.
"Lempira Reina" ballpark
It is a stadium for baseball games, located in front of the Tiburcio Carías Andino metropolitan stadium; it is the second most important stadium for this sport after the one at the facilities of the Villa Olímpica de Tegucigalpa. Built in 1951.
Sports
Tegucigalpa has many sports centers in every neighborhood, district or center, as well as many stadiums and sports complexes.
Tegucigalpa is home to the two biggest clubs of the Honduran National Football League: Club Deportivo Olimpia and Club Deportivo Motagua. Between them they have more than 40 league titles. Olimpia is the most popular and the one with the most league championships, followed closely by its archrival Motagua. Both teams have been champions of Central America. In addition, the city has a training complex for youth national teams called the GOAL project, which was financed by FIFA and built on the grounds of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH).
La Tigra National Park: it has a total area of 243.40 km², comprising the core zone and its buffer zone; the park borders five municipalities: Distrito Central, San Juan de Flores, Santa Lucía, Valle de Ángeles and Talanga.Scarlet macaw, a bird of the Picacho Metropolitan Zoo Of these, the one with the largest coverage is the Distrito Central. It has four ecosystems:
1. Agricultural and livestock system
2. Lower montane seasonal needle-leaved tropical evergreen forest
3. Lower montane seasonal mixed tropical evergreen forest and
4. Upper montane seasonal broad-leaved tropical evergreen forest.
The latter is in the highest part of the park.
The subtropical dry forest is located in the northern zone of the park and is the one with the smallest area. La Tigra has a great variety of flora and fauna; among the vegetation we can mention tree species such as ocote pine, oaks, holm oaks, sweetgum and aguacatillos, among others; there is also a diversity of ferns, six of them in danger of extinction, which are protected by AMITIGRA.
Among the fauna there are species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, which are the most common groups that can be observed within the park; animals such as margays, agoutis, white-tailed deer, night monkeys, pumas and jaguarundis are known to live there. Birds such as goldfinches, mountain guans, quetzals, hawks and toucans, among many others.
The Picacho Metropolitan Zoo: located on El Picacho, with an extraordinary view of the City of Tegucigalpa and amid a forest of oaks and pines, the metropolitan zoo offers an opportunity to get to know some of the native animals of our Honduras.
A jaguar stands out, the largest feline in America and native to Honduras, as well as a very complete collection of white-tailed deer and spider monkeys.
It has a total of 310 animals, among which we can count 20 different species of mammals, 23 of birds and 7 of reptiles.
The total area of the zoo is about 22 manzanas.
Other places of interest
In the vicinity of Tegucigalpa there are many viceregal towns, among them:
↑Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa is the title granted by the Spaniards on September 29, 1578.
↑With the merger of Villa de Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela (then Villa de Concepción) into a single municipality on September 28, 1890, it was titled simply Tegucigalpa, and from January 30, 1937, with the merger into the Distrito Central, it came to be called Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central (abbreviated Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.)
↑Asamblea Nacional Constituyente (September 9, 1921). "Constitución Política de 1921". archivado 30 de marzo de 2006 (in español). Ministerio Público de Honduras. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
↑Asamblea Nacional Constituyente (January 30, 1937). "Constitución Política de 1936-Decreto 53". archivado 05 de diciembre de 2000 (in español). Ministerio Público de Honduras. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
↑Fundación para la Inversión y Desarrollo de Exportaciones (FIDE) (April 3, 2009). "Embajadas y Consulados en Honduras" (in español). hondurasinfo.hn. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
↑Editor en GoAborad.com (March 11, 2011). "Embajadas". GoAbroad.com. Retrieved July 20, 2013. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
↑Fundación para la Inversión y Desarrollo de Exportaciones (FIDE) (April 3, 2009). "Oficinas gubernamentales" (in español). hondurasinfo.hn. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
↑Congreso Nacional de Honduras (May 23, 1991). "Facultades de la Corporación Municipal". Archivado el 11 de octubre de 2011 (in español). AMDC. Archived from the original(PHP) on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
↑Comisiones ciudadanas (September 29, 2008). "Plan de Ciudad 450"(PDF) (in español). capital450.hn. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
↑Schwimmer, Eric (February 24, 2003). "Addenda". geocities.ws. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
↑Izaguirre, Gustavo (September 24, 2010). "Tegucigalpa y su Aniversario" (in español). Semanario Católico FIDES. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
↑Peñafiel, Antonio (1897). Columbia University Library (ed.). Nomenclatura geográfica de México (in español) (1st ed.). México: Oficina Tipográfica de la Secretaria de Fomento. p. 250. ISBN978-1173201975. Tegucigalpa-Teguzicalpa{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
↑Traductor náhuatl (March 9, 2008). "Diccionario náhuatl" (in español). vocabulario.com.mx. Retrieved July 23, 2013. Tecuhtzincalpan-Tegucigalpa (Lugar sobre la casa del amado señor)
↑Fay Earle, Evan (February 2006). "Guide to the Rodolfo R. Schuller Papers". Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
↑Martínez Castillo, Mario Felipe (2012). Lorenza Durón (ed.). Lecturas de la capital de Honduras (in español) (1st ed.). Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.: Alcaldía Municipal del Distrito Central.
↑Mariño, Rocío (April 15, 2005). "Estudio sobre Descentralización" (in español). Universidad de Georgetown, Facultad de Servicio Exterior. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
↑Congreso Nacional de Honduras (April 13, 1990). Cox, Claudia (ed.). "Decreto Número 134-90, Ley de Municipalidades"(PDF). Archivado el 20 de noviembre de 2000 (in español). Federación de Municipios del Istmo Centroamericano. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
↑Congreso Nacional de Honduras (May 23, 1991). "Facultades de la Corporación Municipal". Archivado el 11 de octubre de 2011 (in español). AMDC. Archived from the original(PHP) on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
↑Congreso Nacional de Honduras (May 23, 1991). "Facultades del Alcalde Municipal". Archivado el 11 de octubre de 2011 (in español). AMDC. Archived from the original(PHP) on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
↑Congreso Nacional de Honduras (May 23, 1991). "Facultades del Vice Alcalde". Archivado el 11 de octubre de 2011 (in español). AMDC. Archived from the original(PHP) on March 27, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
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Caracas, Venezuela.
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Guadalajara, Mexico.
San José, Costa Rica.
Lima, Peru.
Taipei, Taiwan.
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Managua, Nicaragua.
Berlin, Germany.
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