Trujillo, Colón
Encyclopedia
Trujillo is a city and a municipality
on the northern Caribbean
coast of the Honduran
department of Colón, of which the city is the capital. The municipality
has a population of about 30,000 (2003). The city is located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Trujillo. Behind the city rise two prominent mountains, Mount Capiro and Mount Calentura. Three Garifuna fishing villages--Santa Fe, San Antonio, and Guadelupe--are located along the beach.
landed in Trujillo on August 14, 1502, during his fourth and final voyage to the Americas. Columbus named the place "Punta de Caxinas". It was the first time he touched the Central American mainland. He noticed that the water in this part of the Caribbean was very deep and therefore called the area Golfo de Honduras, i.e., The Gulf of the Depths (see: Bay of Honduras).
The history of the modern town begins in 1524, shortly after the conquest of Mexico
by Hernán Cortés
. Cortés sent Cristóbal de Olid
to find a Spanish
outpost in the region, and he established a town named Triunfo de la Cruz
in the vicinity. When Olid began using the town as his base for establishing his own realm in Central America
, Cortés sent Francisco de las Casas
to remove him. Las Casas lost most of his fleet in a storm, but he was nevertheless able to defeat Olid and restore the region to Cortés. Upon assuming control, Las Casas decided to relocate the town to its present location, because the natural harbor was larger. At the same time, Triunfo de la Cruz was renamed Trujillo. His deputy, Juan Lopez de Aguirre was charged with establishing the new town, but he sailed off, leaving another deputy, named Medina, to found the town.
Cortés himself visited the town shortly after, during a campaign to suppress the internecine fighting between his followers. It was he who sent ships to established Spanish colonies in Jamaica
and Cuba
for saplings, seed, and domesticated animals that could be raised there. In the coming years, however, Trujillo became more important as a shipment point for gold
and silver
mined in the interior of the country. Because of its sparse population, the city also became a frequent target of pirates.
Under Spanish rule Trujillo became the capital of Honduras, but because of its vulnerability the capital was changed to the inland town of Comayagua
. The fortress, Fortaleza de Santa Bárbara (El Castillo), which sits on the bluff overlooking the bay, was built by the Spanish around 1550. Nevertheless, it was inadequate to really defend Trujillo from pirates--the largest gathering of pirates in history took place in the vicinity in 1683--or rival colonial powers: the Dutch
, French
, and English
. The town was destroyed several times between 1633 and 1797, and during the eighteenth century, the Spanish all but abandoned Trujillo because it was deemed indefensible.
When Honduras obtained its independence in 1821, Trujillo lost its status of capital city
permanently first to Comayagua
, which lost it to Tegucigalpa
in 1880. From this same period onwards Trujillo also began to prosper again.
In 1860, the mercenary
William Walker, who had seized control of neighboring Nicaragua, was finally caught and executed in Trujillo. His tomb is a local tourist attraction.
American author O. Henry
(William Sydney Porter) spent about a year living in Honduras, primarily in Trujillo. He later wrote a number of short stories that took place in "Coralio" in the fictional Central American country of "Anchuria", based on the real town of Trujillo. Most of these stories appear in his book Of Cabbages and Kings.
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...
on the northern Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
coast of 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 Colón, of which the city is the capital. The municipality
Municipalities of Honduras
The 18 departments of Honduras are divided into 299 municipalities . Municipalities have elected mayors , as opposed to the appointed governors of departments. For statistical purposes, the municipalities are further subdivided into 3731 aldeas, and those into 27969 caserios...
has a population of about 30,000 (2003). The city is located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Trujillo. Behind the city rise two prominent mountains, Mount Capiro and Mount Calentura. Three Garifuna fishing villages--Santa Fe, San Antonio, and Guadelupe--are located along the beach.
History
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
landed in Trujillo on August 14, 1502, during his fourth and final voyage to the Americas. Columbus named the place "Punta de Caxinas". It was the first time he touched the Central American mainland. He noticed that the water in this part of the Caribbean was very deep and therefore called the area Golfo de Honduras, i.e., The Gulf of the Depths (see: Bay of Honduras).
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
by Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
. Cortés sent Cristóbal de Olid
Cristóbal de Olid
Cristóbal de Olid was a Spanish adventurer, conquistador and rebel who played a part in the conquest of Mexico and Honduras.Born in Zaragoza, Olid grew up in the household of the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. In 1518 Velázquez sent Olid to relieve Juan de Grijalva, but en route a...
to find a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
outpost in the region, and he established a town named Triunfo de la Cruz
Tela
Tela is a town in Honduras on the northern Caribbean coast. It is located in the department of Atlantida.-History:Tela was founded by the Spanish conquistador Cristóbal de Olid on 3 May 1524 near an indigenous town named Tehuacán, ruled by a cacique named Cucumba which had a very good source of...
in the vicinity. When Olid began using the town as his base for establishing his own realm in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Cortés sent Francisco de las Casas
Francisco de las Casas
Francisco de las Casas y Saavedra was a Spanish Conquistador in Mexico and Honduras.Francisco de las Casas was born in Trujillo, Spain. By 1513 las Casas was already married to Maria de Aguilar, daughter of Geronimo de Aguilar, and they maintained a house in Trujillo, where she sold a block of...
to remove him. Las Casas lost most of his fleet in a storm, but he was nevertheless able to defeat Olid and restore the region to Cortés. Upon assuming control, Las Casas decided to relocate the town to its present location, because the natural harbor was larger. At the same time, Triunfo de la Cruz was renamed Trujillo. His deputy, Juan Lopez de Aguirre was charged with establishing the new town, but he sailed off, leaving another deputy, named Medina, to found the town.
Cortés himself visited the town shortly after, during a campaign to suppress the internecine fighting between his followers. It was he who sent ships to established Spanish colonies in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
for saplings, seed, and domesticated animals that could be raised there. In the coming years, however, Trujillo became more important as a shipment point for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
mined in the interior of the country. Because of its sparse population, the city also became a frequent target of pirates.
Under Spanish rule Trujillo became the capital of Honduras, but because of its vulnerability the capital was changed to the inland town of Comayagua
Comayagua
Comayagua is a city in Honduras, some 80 km northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula at an elevation of 594 meters above sea level. In 2003 the estimated population was 60,000 people. It is the capital of the Comayagua department of Honduras. The city is noted for its wealth...
. The fortress, Fortaleza de Santa Bárbara (El Castillo), which sits on the bluff overlooking the bay, was built by the Spanish around 1550. Nevertheless, it was inadequate to really defend Trujillo from pirates--the largest gathering of pirates in history took place in the vicinity in 1683--or rival colonial powers: the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The town was destroyed several times between 1633 and 1797, and during the eighteenth century, the Spanish all but abandoned Trujillo because it was deemed indefensible.
When Honduras obtained its independence in 1821, Trujillo lost its status of capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
permanently first to Comayagua
Comayagua
Comayagua is a city in Honduras, some 80 km northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula at an elevation of 594 meters above sea level. In 2003 the estimated population was 60,000 people. It is the capital of the Comayagua department of Honduras. The city is noted for its wealth...
, which lost it to Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa , and commonly referred as Tegus , is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela. Founded on September 29, 1578 by the Spanish, it became the country's capital on October 30, 1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto...
in 1880. From this same period onwards Trujillo also began to prosper again.
In 1860, the mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
William Walker, who had seized control of neighboring Nicaragua, was finally caught and executed in Trujillo. His tomb is a local tourist attraction.
American author O. Henry
O. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
(William Sydney Porter) spent about a year living in Honduras, primarily in Trujillo. He later wrote a number of short stories that took place in "Coralio" in the fictional Central American country of "Anchuria", based on the real town of Trujillo. Most of these stories appear in his book Of Cabbages and Kings.
Further reading
- Robert Stoner Chamberlain, The Conquest and Colonization of Honduras, 1502-1550, 1966. ISBN 0374913684
External links
- The Trujillo Honduras Pages (history, news and pictures of Trujillo).
- Honduran Notebook, 1997
- Interactive Map of Trujillo