Honduras - Santa Rosa de Copán

A church in Santa Rosa de Copán.

Sent by Bryan from Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras.

This is from Wikipedia : Santa Rosa de Copán is the departmental capital of the Honduran department of Copán. It is set at an elevation of approximately 1,150 metres (3,773 ft) above mean sea level.

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 (CA-4) with San Pedro Sula to the North and with the borders of El Salvador at El Poy and Guatemala at Agua Caliente to the west. Santa Rosa has a subtropical climate with temperatures ranging from 25 °C (77 °F) to 29 °C (84 °F) in the summer (March-June), and from 13 °C (55 °F) to 15 °C (59 °F) in the winter (December-February).

The historical center of Santa Rosa de Copán has been declared a Honduran national monument, with preservation of its Republican or Neoclassical architecture and cobblestone streets that has its origins in a prosperous tobacco farming industry of the 18th century. Santa Rosa is situated at a strategic point between Copán Ruinas and Gracias, Lempira, and the Celaque National Park, ideal for those eager of visiting this interesting and must seen region. The La Flor de Copán cigar factory is located in the city.

The city was founded in the early 18th century. 1705. on 8 August of that year. Mr. Captain Don Juan García de la Candelaria place to purchase the Spanish crown and founded his estate with four ranches; settlers at the site called "Los Llanos",later the first settlers named out as Santa Rosa, and later as Santa Rosa de Los Llanos;An industrie of Tobacco was develop in early 18th Century and was picked as the site for La Real Factoria del Tabacos, the Royal Tobacco Company a Spanish crown company in 1765. Later, the province of Gracias a Dios was split in two departments, becoming Copán and Lempira. 1862. (May 7) As the nation's President Mr. Don Victoriano Castellanos Cortes, issued the Legislative Decree No. 3 in which is given the title of "REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS" to our country, therefore, no longer called "State of Honduras." In 1865, it was renamed Santa Rosa de Copan.