5 Best Sights in Western Honduras, Honduras

On the eastern edge of Parque Central, this massive neoclassical structure was begun in 1949 but not completed for many years. The most important church in town, it is always buzzing with activity. Locals seem to treat it as a community center, and worshippers are surprisingly friendly and talkative. Take a peek inside, but the cathedral lacks the style of Honduras's numerous older churches.

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.