Santa Rosa de Copán

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Santa Rosa de Copán is the departmental capital of the Honduran department of Copán. It is set at an altitude of approximately 1000m.

Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras, is the largest and most important city in western Honduras with a population of 42,803. Santa Rosa is the governmental hub of the department of Copán. The city is connected through the International Highway of the West with San Pedro Sula to the east and with the borders of El Salvador at El Poy and Guatemala at Agua Caliente to the west. Santa Rosa benefits from a beautiful setting, surrounded by hills and pine trees, and enjoys a subtropical climate with temperatures ranging from 25-29° C in the summer (March-June) and from 13-15° C in the winter (December-February).

Santa Rosa has a rich cultural heritage and is an appealing stop for tourists. The historical center of the city has been declared a Honduran national monument. Visitors can enjoy the colonial architecture, cobblestone streets and colonial-style houses that demonstrate the preservation of Santa Rosa's culture and history, with its origins in tobacco farming. While visiting the city center you will notice several different architectural styles of the historical buildings. Santa Rosa is situated at a strategic point between Copán Ruins and Gracias, Lempira. Here you will find two of the most important tourist attractions in Honduras: Copán Ruins and Celaque National Park. The city also has the advantage of being within 2 hours of the borders of both El Salvador and Guatemala, which makes it the perfect place to rest up and explore its historical downtown. Construction of a highway that will connect Santa Rosa and Copán Ruins directly is currently underway, cutting the trip between these two sites to just 45 minutes. Santa Rosa is also an ideal spot to use as a base to explore nearby villages such as Lepaera, Corquin and San Marcos, among others.

The city offers a wide selection of hotels and restaurants, and a cinema.

Church in Santa Rosa

[edit] History

The city was founded in the early 18th century by Spanish settlers as Los Llanos de Santa Rosa and was picked as the site for La Real Factoria del Tabaco, the Royal Tobacco Company a Spanish crown company in 1765. Later, it was the capital city of the department of Gracias before that department was split into Copán and Lempira. In 1865, it was renamed Santa Rosa de Copan.