6 Best Sights in Western Honduras, Honduras

The largest house of worship constructed during the colonial period, Catedral de Santa María dates from 1711. The interior is incredibly ornate, with four hand-carved wooden altars covered in gold. Note the intriguing statue of Santa Ana, the mother of the Virgin Mary, carrying a diminutive Santa María, who in turn is holding a tiny infant Jesús. Phillip II of Spain donated a Moorish clock from the Alhambra in Granada for the tower, and Hondureños claim it is the oldest in the Americas. As the so-called reloj arabe (Arab clock) dates from around 1100, it could well be true.

At the north end of town is the 1629 Iglesia de la Caridad. In the back is the country's only remaining open-air chapel, originally used for the conversion of indigenous peoples, in what was then socially segregated Comayagua. The church's interior is famous for its statue of El Señor de la Burrita (Lord of the Burro), which is paraded through town on Palm Sunday.

Dating from 1550, Iglesia La Merced was the first church to be built in Honduras. One of the oldest in the Americas, it houses a magnificent altarpiece. It was badly damaged in a 1774 earthquake but was lovingly restored in subsequent decades.

Three blocks southeast of Iglesia de la Caridad is Iglesia San Francisco, founded in 1560. The bell in the tower was brought from Spain and dates back to 1460, making it the oldest in the Americas. The church houses an elegantly carved baroque altarpiece from the 18th century.

Sadly, the one-time bishop's palace housing Comayagua's most fabulous museum, the Museo Colonial de Arte Religioso, was badly damaged in a 2009 fire and is still closed at this writing. Miraculously, 80 percent of the museum's treasure trove of religious art from the colonial era was saved. The varied collection of 15th- to 18th-century artwork from local churches includes paintings, sculptures, and jewels used to adorn the statues of saints. The building is undergoing reconstruction with plans to open to the public at a yet unspecified future date; do check when you're here just in case, though, as to miss it if it is reopened would be a shame.

The elegant old building that holds the Museo de Arqueología served as the country's first presidential palace. The museum today provides arguably the country's best collection of Lenca artifacts. It contains well-preserved items from around Comayagua, from cave art to colorful pottery to metates (the stones the Lenca used for grinding grain). It also houses interesting fossils and an important collection of jade. A workshop at the back has been transformed into a school where men and women train as carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, and in the other old trades needed to rebuild the city according to the old traditions. Exhibits are labeled in English and Spanish. A small cafeteria is open for breakfast and lunch.