Travel guideHistorySightsNightlifeMap

Tegucigalpa History, Honduras

Native Americans, mainly Lenca people called the city Tegucigalpa, and were living in the city till European Spanish miners landed in the city in the mid 1500s. Though the Native Americans were the pioneers of Tegucigalpa, their language does not prevail anymore and nothing much is known about their civilization.

Though September 29, 1578 is considered to be the actual date of founding of the city, some say that is a controversial date. However it was in 1880 that Tegucigalpa was then named the capital of Honduras.

Interpretation of the name ‘Tegucigalpa’

The name of the city means ‘silver hill’ in the infamous Lencan language, and is supported by the fact that the early miners in the district found silver in Tegucigalpa. However this theory is once again in a controversy as it is said that Native Americans did not mine silver and if they did, would not have named a hill after it. So today, the meaning of Tegucigalpa is not clearly known.

The Arabs and Chinese had helped in the joining of the Native American and European descendants in the 1900s. While the Arabs continued migrating to Tegucigalpa for fifty years, the Chinese still migrate to the city today. However the strong presence of both these ethnic groups is evident in the city with two huge hardware chain stores having Arab names and the huge number of Chinese restaurants.

The growth of the city

It was only in the 1970s that the city actually started growing with the increased migration of people from the provincial regions. In fact, within a decade numerous roads, overhead bridges and huge structures were built. This is a great achievement for a country that only saw two story buildings. This growth has continued in Tegucigalpa to create a jumbled up city.

With the development of the country, the industrial production of the country too improved. Tegucigalpa started manufacturing goods like plywood, cigarettes, cement, metalwork, chemicals, electric appliances and sugar.

There are also some duty free manufacturing factories located in Tegucigalpa. These factories were started in the 1990s, in the Amarateca canyon. Even today, you can still find people mining lead, zinc and silver in some parts of Tegucigalpa.

email to a friendAsk our travel experts a question about Tegucigalpa