COMAYAGUA

city, west-central Honduras, on the right bank of the Humuya River in a fertile valley. Founded in 1537 as Valladolid de Santa Mara de Comayagua, the town served as the Spanish colonial capital of Honduras province. It suffered damage in the 19th-century political upheavals of Honduras and in rivalry with Tegucigalpa for the position of national capital, but only in 1880 was the capital finally transferred to Tegucigalpa. Colonial buildings include a notable Spanish Baroque cathedral (1715), four 16th-century churches, and a former university (the first in Central America, founded in 1632). Comayagua manufactures pharmaceuticals, shoes, resins, cement products, and ceramics; it is the commercial centre for western Honduras. The national Agricultural Centre is located in the city. The Inter-Oceanic Highway passes through the city, and it also has an airfield, which was upgraded in the early 1980s into a military air base. Pop. (1988 prelim.) 36,414.