Tegucigalpa

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Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa (Tegus for short), population 1,682,725 (2006) (metro area), is the capital of Honduras and the republic's largest city. It's also the third largest city in Central America, after Guatemala City and San Salvador. The city is located in a valley of the same name at , and an elevation of 3,250 feet. The name is derived from the Nahuatl Teguz-galpa, meaning "silver hills". Tegucigalpa is also the capital of Honduras' Francisco Morazán department. The city's industries include textiles, sugar, and cigarettes.

History

Tegucigalpa was founded under the name of "Real Villa de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa de Heredia" on September 29th, 1578 on top of an existing indigenous settlement. At that time it was a center of silver and gold mining. The first capital of Honduras was the port of Trujillo. It later moved to the city of Gracias, in the western department of Lempira. The capital of the independent Republic of Honduras then switched back and forth between Tegucigalpa and Comayagua until it was permanently settled at Tegucigalpa in 1880. It is said that the society of Comayagua, the long time colonial capital of Honduras, was publicly disliked by the wife of President Marco Aurelio Soto, who took revenge by moving the capital of the republic to Tegucigalpa. Going beyond the public saying, it is most likely that the change of the seat of the capital took place due to the fact that President Marco Aurelio Soto was an important partner of the Rosario Mining Company, whose operations where based in San Juancito, located about 40 km outside of Tegucigalpa, and he needed to be closer to his personal interests.

The National Autonomous University of Honduras was established in Tegucigalpa in 1847. The National Museum here has a notable collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts. In the 1930s the town of Comayagüela (on the other side of the Choluteca River from central Tegucigalpa) was incorporated into the city.

Hurricane Mitch

On October 30th, 1998, the city was significantly damaged by Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed part of the Comayagüela section of the city, as well as other places along the Choluteca River. The hurricane stayed in Honduran territory for five days. The ground could not absorb all the rain, and the deforestation from the hurricane contributed to serious floods all throughout the country, principally in Tegucigalpa.

The swelling of the Choluteca river's tributaries caused the water level to be higher than that of the Mallol bridge, which was dragged along by the current. The rains also caused landslides around El Berrinche hill. These landslides dragged most of Soto colony down, causing debris to fall down on the basin of the river, forming a dike. This dike suspended the waters of the river and caused the flood in the low parts of Comayagüela, destroying old establishments located along Calle Real.

Politics

The local government in the Honduran consists of a mayor, accompanied by five councillors of other political parties.

Places of interest

El Teatro Manuel Bonilla
Parque La Leona
El Museo Nacional Villa Roy
Cerro del Picacho
La Iglesia Catedral
El Santuario de Suyapa
Parque Naciones Unidas
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
Santa Lucía
San Juancito
Valle de Ángeles
Parque Nacional La Tigra
Paseo del cerro Juan A. Laínez
El Zoológico Metropolitano del Picacho
Chiminikee (park and science museum for children)

Museums

Museo Nacional Villaroy
Museo del Hombre
Museo Histórico Militar
Sala Bancatlán
Galería de Arte Nacional
Museo de Historia Natural

Shopping centers

Mall Multiplaza
Plaza Miraflores
Mall Megaplaza
Los Mercados de Comayagüela
Mall El Dorado

Bilingual schools

DelCampo International School
International School of Tegucigalpa
Academia Los Pinares
American School of Tegucigalpa
Proyecto Honduras
José Cecilio Del Valle School
Liceo Franco Hondureño (trilingual high school, in French, Spanish and English.)
Instituto Hondureño de Cultura Interamericana (IHCI)
Centro Escolar Aldebarán
Macris School
Dowal School
Escuela Bilingue La Ceiba
Mazapan
Mayan School
Saint Patrick's Academy
Metropolitan

Transportation

There are no railroads in Tegucigalpa.

Automobile

The fastest way to get from one part of the city to another is along the peripheral road, which surrounds Tegucigalpa in an 'O'. The city is also connected to the state highway, where one can go to the north (towards San Pedro Sula,) or the south (towards Nicaragua.)

Airport

The main airport that serves Tegucigalpa is Toncontín International Airport. The origin of this name is unknown. This airport has received much criticism for being one of the most dangerous in the world (due to its vicinity to a sierra,) and for years efforts have been made to replace it with Palmerola airport in Comayagua, currently a United States airbase. Toncontín has been improved significantly by the work of CAT (the Airport Corporation of Tegucigalpa) and by INTERAIRPORTS, a company hired by the government of the Honduras to administer the four airports of the country.

Airlines in Toncontín:

Sports

Their most famous football team is Olimpia but Motagua also play there.

Sister cities

Madrid, Spain Taipei, Taiwan New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

External links

Capitals in North America | Cities in Honduras | 1578 establishments

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