Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest
On March 8th, 1576 Don Diego Garcia de Palacio, a Member of the Royal Audience of Guatemala, wrote an amazing letter to King Philip II of Spain describing his visit to the ruins of a fabulous Mayan city thatd been buried by the mist-deep tropical jungles of northern Honduras, following its abandonment around seven-hundred years beforeit was a green-overgrown sprawl of over fifty acrestemples, stelae, altars, plazas, ball courts and a spectacular stairway inscribed with hieroglyphic characters telling the stories of warriors and kings who apparently reminded the Don of monks and bishops. It would be another two-hundred and fifty-six years before an illustrated report on the site was commissioned and another sixty-six until the dense forests surrounding it were cut down to allow for the tobacco and corn fields that encircle it to this day.
Know as Xukpi in its own time, today we call the site Copn.
Its home, The Republic of Honduras, is basically the knee of Central America, bounded by its three-hundred and ninety-nine mile long Caribbean coastline, its westward border with Guatemala, its seventy-seven mile Pacific shore and its southern borders with El Salvador and Nicaragua. The Swan and Caribbean Bay islands also call Honduran territory their home. Topographically speaking, the land is dominated by rugged mountains, rough hills and river valleys steeped in the swamps, mangroves and rainforests in miniature of pristine areas such as the Parque Nacional Marino Punta Salwhere zoology minded travelers will find a breathtaking diversity of wildlife, including manatees, ocelots, monkeys, alligators, pumas and quetzal to whet their appetites. Likewise, experienced mountain climbers will be awed by the cloud forest rimmed vertical cliffs of the Parque Nacional Celaque.
Unless youre a traveler from elsewhere in the region, youll be arriving in country via either San Pedro Sula or the capital city of Tegucigalpas international airports. If your only intent is to see Copn, your entry point will most likely be San Pedro Sula, otherwise youll be starting off in the more centrally located Tegucigalpa. Surrounded by pine-speckled mountains, the typically noisy capital of Honduras sits in a bowl-valley nestled over three-thousand feet above sea level. Founded by the Spanish, as a silver-mining center in 1578, the cities centerpiece attractions still revolve around its bygone colonial era. Before heading out into the hinterlands, history buffs will definitely want to visit its baroque eighteenth-century cathedral, the Casa Presidencial, the Antiguo Parainfo Universitario, the Gothic Basillica de Suyapa and the cities first churchthe Iglesia de San Francisco. Wilderness enthusiasts should be certain to make the seven mile trek out to La Tigra National Park, a pristine cloud forest that plays home to much of the fauna I mentioned earlier.
Fifty-two miles to the northwest, travelers will be able to treat themselves to the sights of Comayagua, the original Spanish capital of Honduras. Like Tegucigalpa, the town is amateur historians dream. Youll want to be sure to visit both San Francisco and La Merceda pair of sixteenth century churches, the Casa Curalhome of the Museo Colonial and site of Central Americas first university and Comayaguas Cathedralas it houses not only an eight-hundred year old Moorish clock but an impressive display of fine art as well. Those still hungry for the historic after touring all of the above will still have an excellent eighteenth century church called La Caridad to look forward to.
Neither beachcombers nor would-be explorers will want to miss out on a visit to Trujillo. It not only offers up a coconut-strewn shoreline but can lay claim to a colonial history dating back to August 15th, 1502the day Columbus first set foot on the American mainland. Located on the north coast of Honduras at the foot of Mounts Calentura and Capira on a small bluff overlooking its beautiful and expansive bay, Trujillo boasts a fine cathedral, central plaza, the historic Fort of Santa Barbaraburial place of the infamous adventurer William Walker, a cascade un-renovated buildings of early Spanish and nineteenth century French colonial derivation, easy access to both a national park and a nature preservethe Parque Nacional Capiro Calentura and the Reserva de Vida Silvestre Laguna Guaimoreto respectively and last but certainly not least the elusive but spectacular Cuyamel Caves.
Youll find all the above to be fascinating and enlightening sights to see, Im sure. But if youve made trip to Honduras, youve no doubt come to see the once-forgotten glories called Copn, occupied between the fifth and ninth centuries at the peak of a classical Mayan civilization whose influence stretched as far north as Mexicos Teotihuacan and perhaps as far south as Columbia. Following the collapse of the city state that once called the place home, nature took its course and engulfed much of the sacred complex. Today the area is a UNESCO heritage of humanity site located less than a mile outside of the picaresque adobe-n-cobblestone village of Copn Ruinas. The archaeological park built around the ruins is open daily. While there, youll want to be sure to only begin your visit with the main park before moving on to survey areas such as Los Sapos and Las Sepulturas, the stelae surrounding the valley in which the park lies and both the visitor centers Museum of Maya Sculpture and the towns Museum of Archaeology.
Head out during May-June if youre a lover of fairs, festivals and carnivals.
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