An attractive colonial village near Tegucigalpa is Ojojona, 32 kilometers from the capital on the crest of the mountains sloping down toward the Pacific Coast, at an altitude of 1,390 meters. Thought to have been settled by the Spanish in 1579 on the site of a Lenca village, Ojojona played a larger and more important role than Tegucigalpa for much of the colonial era because of the rich mines of El Aguacatal, Guasucarán, El Plomo, and Las Quemazones in the nearby hills.

Among the many colonial buildings in the now-sleepy rural town are three churches: Iglesia San Juan Bautista (1824), Iglesia de Carmen (1819), and Iglesia del Calvario. In the Iglesia del Calvario, a few blocks from the square, hangs a colonial-era painting titled “Sangre de Cristo” (Blood of Christ). Quite a vision of gory religious symbolism, it depicts an agonized Christ on the cross, his blood gushing down onto a flock of sheep placidly grazing below—but you’ll have to visit on a Sunday if you want to peek inside any of the churches.

The house with the wooden pillars on the square is the oldest structure still standing in Ojojona, built in 1723. For a time, the house was owned by the family of Honduran painter Pablo Zelaya Sierra, and is now under renovation.

Ojojona is known for the simple earthenware pottery made in surrounding villages and sold in a couple of shops in town.

Near Ojojona is Cerro de Ula, a traditional region known for its terraced hillside farming, a practice thought to date from pre-Columbian times.

Getting to Ojojona

Buses leave for Tegucigalpa every 30 minutes 4:30 a.m.–9 a.m., and every hour thereafter until 5 p.m., charging US$0.65 for the 45-minute ride. If you miss the last bus, you can hire a mototaxi for US$2.50 to take you to the cruce, the intersection with the main highway, where you can flag down any bus heading to Tegucigalpa. Leaving from Tegucigalpa, catch the bus on 5 Avenida in Comayagüela, at the Mercado Mayoreo, near the Centro Comercial La Norteña. Buses leave Tegucigalpa every hour 6:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m.

To get to Ojojona by car from Tegucigalpa, take the highway toward Choluteca until you reach a DIPPSA gas station at a mountain crest, 24 kilometers from the capital. From here, a road turns right and leads eight kilometers to Ojojona, passing through Santa Ana, where there is a colonial church with a lovely painted dome.