Omoa Things to Do

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Huge and restored Spanish fortress with a fine museum attached to it included in the entrance fee.

The big fort you'll see is, in fact, the second reicarnation of the structure, that happened in the second half of the XVIII century. It was an important por for the Spanish, due to the proximity with what is nowadays Belize, that was a safe port for pirates and corsaries. The remains of the older construction can be seen atop of the wall facing the sea. The view from there is great, too. You can even see Puerto Cortés from there (not that it's a great big deal, since it's only 30km from Omoa...

The museum has good diplays on Spanish colonial history, objects brought up from naufragated vessels and good displays on the history of the fort. ouside there is a rusted locomotive, used in the early history of the train that today goes from Tela to Cortés.

As Omoa has been an important port for the transport of valuable goods (i.e. gold and silver) the town has been a constant target of British pirates. Therefore the Spaniards decided to protect the port by building this impressive fortress. Construction began in 1752 under the leadership of Diez Navarro. For the construction they used slaves from Jamaica whose descendents today are a part of the local population.

The fortress has been built for 200 soldiers. But after its completion in 1775 the pirates almost were history. There was only one battle at this fortress in 1779 when the Brits attacked and conquered the fortress. But after two month the Spanish soldiers got reinforcement and the Brits left the fortress without fighting.

Between 1900 and 1950 the fortress served as a jail for political prisoners. Up to 200 men have been taken into custody here.

The whole facility has about 4.400 square metres. There are 31 rooms, most of them dorms. Originally there have been 150 canons, but nowadays only about 30 of them are left.

The main thing to do in Omoa is see the Castle. It was nice to spend the day strolling through the castle grounds. There isn't a lot to do inside the castle but there are lovely views and it is nice to see a piece of history (if you are into that kind of thing!)

The small museum exhibits exponents of the colonial history of the town. It’s only a small museum but well worth a visit.

It’s open daily from 8 am to 5 pm

This picture is of me at the top of the stairs which lead from the courtyard to the roof.

The castle is pretty cool in that you can walk around the courtyard but also on the roof. There are some really nice views from the top!