Tencoa

Tencoa was a Lenca town in the mountainous country of western Honduras. Under Spanish rule it became the centre of a district served by Mercedarian missionaries, who founded a convent there in 1554. Travel between its communities was difficult: in 1791 the bishop described rough mountain roads and large rivers without bridges. Toward the end of the eighteenth century neighbouring Santa Bárbara took over Tencoa’s administrative preeminence.

The later city of Santa Bárbara lies here.