Comayagua Travel Guide

2 more images

Located on the plaza of it's name, this church was built in 1550 when Comayagua gained its status as a capital of the region, and for over a century, this mission style church was the bishopric. Sadly for us, the church was closed, so we couldn't see the locally made altar.

2 more images

The other important and actually much older plaza is at Parque La Merced. Many of these historic structures has been saved and restored for businesses. The historically important La Merced church appears in some need of restoration, however.

3 more images

The largest central plaza in Comayagua, parque central contains a number of important statues, fountains, and memorials. The featured building is of course the cathedral, but there are a number of colonial era commercial and governmental structures also surrounding the park. Some of these are museums, which unfortunately were closed at the time of our visit.

2 more images

Built between 1685 and 1715, this is one of the most important churches in the new world because it's unusual clock mechanism is believed to be one of the world's oldest. There is some dispute about the origins of the cast iron mechanism which must be wound every day. Guide books report this as originally made by the Moors for the Alhambra around 1100 AD, but aspects of the mechanism appear to suggest Dutch manufacture during as early as the 13th century. In any case, the clock was a royal Spanish gift to the Bishop of Trujillo, where Columbus first set foot on mainland. The Bishop installed the clock into the church of La Merced in 1586, and in 1561, the bishopric was transferred from Trujillo to Comayagua. In 1711, the new Cathdral was built, and the clock mechanism was reinstalled. The clock face on the front of the church tower is not the original.

Unfortunately for us, the Catedral was closed, so we were unable to see neither the grand artwork of the altar nor the clock mechanism in the tower. However, see the links below for images of the clock mechanism and more detailed church history.

Nevertheless, the outside of the church is reason enough to stop by, so enjoy our images of this colonial era treasure built in 1711.