Tecohtzincalpan

Tegucigalpa stands in a mountain basin in central Honduras, where streams descend into the Choluteca River. Its name preserves a Nahuatl place name, while the silver deposits of the surrounding hills made the settlement an important mining center under Spanish rule. The town grew beside Comayagüela on the opposite bank of the river.

Mining brought Spanish settlers to the district in the late sixteenth century. By 1580 Tegucigalpa had its own mining jurisdiction, and its silver attracted merchants and laborers as well as officials charged with overseeing the mines. Production rose and fell with the fortunes of individual mines, but the settlement remained a regional center. In 1762 it received the title of villa, recognition of its place among the towns of colonial Honduras.