Comayagua Colonial

COMAYAGUA COLONIAL -  Promoting Historical Heritage and Urban Development

Country: Honduras

Project initiated in: 1996

Presented by: AECID

Partners: Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia and local authorities

Project budget: EUR 3 400 000

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// Context

Comayagua, the capital of Honduras until 1890, has a total population of around 100 000, and is located at the very heart of the country as well as being a major crossroads. It is surrounded by a mountain range which is home to two national parks, natural reserves and the only lake in the country. The population is young and has a low-level of qualifications. In terms of living conditions, a large number of families do not have access to basic services: electricity, water, sanitation; 20% of the population live in overcrowded houses. 

The historic centre of the city was listed as a national monument in 1972.

// Project objectives

• Contributing towards economic, social and cultural development in addition to improving the living conditions of the population, through the protection and promotion of the cultural and historical heritage of the city.
• Restoring and revitalising the historic city centre through the elaboration of an urban management plan and the use of constructed heritage and public areas, in addition to the restoration of buildings, monuments and accommodation.
• Promoting tourism via tangible and intangible heritage, notably popular and religious festivals.
• Promoting socio-economic reinsertion of the young underprivileged population via the creation of a school workshop focussing on projects related to heritage restoration projects of the historical centre.
• Promoting gender equality through training programmes aimed at young males and females.
• Improving the urban setting, access to water and environmental management.

// Action and impact

This programme has enabled the drafting of regulations regarding the protection and use of heritage belonging to the city. The primary historical sites have been subject to restoration and conservation measures, the colonial city centre has been redeveloped, and a local heritage management system has been outlined and implemented.

The impact study undertaken shows that 61% of the population in Comayagua consider the project to have improved the urban setting and to have had a positive impact on their living conditions, additionally strengthening the social and economic fabric of the city. Housing located in the historic centre has been sanitised and connected to the electricity and water supplies. Residents unanimously believed the promotion of cultural and traditional city heritage to be a core result of the programme.

The tourism sector has been strengthened by the appeal of the historic centre, supported by the natural heritage which surrounds the city. Support services for this sector – transportation, infrastructure, logistics, and communication – are under development so as to bolster the impetus given to tourism.

The school workshop has trained 400 young people in professions relating to constructed heritage and construction, with a large proportion of young females being integrated into the programme. This school today serves as a model for the Honduras national school-workshop system for training in professional arts and crafts, with the opening of nine schools planned for 1 500 young people throughout the country; likewise the renovation and management project of the historic centre became a model for urban promotion and local development projects in various other towns and cities in the country.

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