Lepaera is a municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Honduran

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 department of Lempira. It has tropical climate all year round.

Lepaera is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. It is also the departmental capital of the municipality. The distance to Lepaera from Gracias

Gracias

Gracias is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people...

 is 15 km on the road that leads to Santa Rosa de Copán

Santa Rosa de Copán

Santa Rosa de Copán is the departmental capital of the Honduran department of Copán. It is set at an elevation of approximately above mean sea level....

 Access is paved but dangerous curves necessitate caution.

History

It is considered an "autochthonous" settlement since 1538 with inhabitants such as Lencas, Toltecas or Chorties Indians, it is believed that these people came from the region of "Cuscatlán" in El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

. Between 1536 and 1538, when the Spanish colonist founded the city of Gracias

Gracias

Gracias is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people...

, there was Lepaera already, as well as other municipalities. The title of City was granted under decree No 81 in 8 October 1956.

Geography

It was established at the toe of "Puca" mountain, and it is surrounded by several other hills. Downtown of the departamental capital has steep streets. The elevation from sea level is proper for coffee plantations. It has sub tropical and pine forests on the highest parts, but the weather in the departmental capital is warm due to deforesting.

Boundaries

Its boundaries are:

• North : Santa Barbara department.
• South : Gracias and Las Flores
  Las Flores, Lempira
  Las Flores is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.Las Flores is one of the municipalities of the Lempira department. It is located at 17 km from Gracias on the paved road that leads to Santa Rosa de Copán. The town is 200 meters away from the paved road.- History :The very...
  
   municipalities.
• East : La Iguala
  La Iguala
  La Iguala is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.La Iguala is one of the oldest municipalities of the Lempira department. The municipality capital is also known as "La Iguala Centro". The access to this town is quite a challenge. Both ways will be briefly described here...
  
   municipality and "Santa Barbara" department.
• West : Copán
  Copán
  Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD...
  
   department.

• Surface Extents: 312 km²

Resources

Planting, gathering, and processing of coffee grains represents the most important commercial activity of this municipality. The 2nd most important activity is commerce. The coffee production makes the city grow faster each year. It has several hardware stores, groceries stores, and a gas station at the entrance of the city. Also it has electricity and mobile communications services. The water is obtained from wells and some streams coming from "Puca" mountain.

Population

The native Indians descendants have been displaced a long time by the cross-breed of Spanish and Indians.

• Population: The figure was 3,866 people in 2001. Based on this, an estimate was elaborated for 2008, resulting in 4,276.
• Villages: 45
• Settlements: 135

Tourism

The city of Lepaera is a welcoming, picturesque, nice place to visit. The streets are narrow and distinctive. The old catholic church in downtown of the city has the following inscription: JVLYO 28 1640 (28 July 1640), and it is perhaps of the oldest in Lempira department. People are warm and friendly. There is a very nice and comfortable hotel. Also there are several locations where the tourist can buy home made ground coffee, known as "Café de Palo", which is very aromatic and has a great taste.

• Local Holidays: "Santiago" day in 25 July and also "Señor de Esquipulas" day on 25 January.

External links