Santa Rosa de Copán () is a municipality in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. The city of Santa Rosa de Copán is the municipal seat and the departmental capital of the Honduran department of

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the ...

. It is located approximately above mean sea level. Santa Rosa de Copán is the largest and most important city in western Honduras with a population of 61,800 (2023 calculation).Citypopulation.de
Population of cities in Honduras Santa Rosa is the governmental hub of the department of Copán. The city is connected through the International Highway of the West (CA-4) with

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701, ...

to the North and with the borders of

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

at El Poy and

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

at Agua Caliente to the west. Santa Rosa has a subtropical climate with temperatures ranging from to in the summer (March–June), and from to in the winter (December–February). The historical centre of Santa Rosa de Copán has been declared a Honduran national monument, with preservation of its Republican or Neoclassical architecture and cobblestone streets that has its origins in a prosperous tobacco farming industry of the 18th century. Santa Rosa is situated at a strategic point between Copán Ruinas and

Gracias Gracias () is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department. The municipality has a population of 61,421 and the town a population of 18,550 (2023 calculation). It is located in the moun ...

, Lempira and the Celaque National Park. As before, tobacco farming remains a staple of the local economy, particularly the cultivation of premium cigar tobaccos. The La Flor de Copán cigar factory is located in the city.

History

The town was founded in the early 18th century. On 8 August 1705, the Spanish colonial captain Don Juan García de la Candelaria acquired the area then called "Los Llanos" from the Spanish crown and founded his estate with four ranches, later the first settlers named it Santa Rosa, and later Santa Rosa de Los Llanos. A

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

industry developed in the early 18th Century and in 1765 the town was picked as the site for La Real Factoria del Tabacos, the Royal Tobacco Company, a Spanish crown company. Later, the

Gracias a Dios Department Gracias a Dios (; "Thanks to God" or "Thank God") is one of the 18 departments (''departamentos'') into which Honduras is divided. The departmental capital is Puerto Lempira; until 1975 it was Brus Laguna. Etymology The department is named in ...

was split in two departments, becoming

Copán department Copán is one of the departments in the western part of Honduras. The departmental capital is the town of Santa Rosa de Copán. The department is well known for its tobacco and fine cigars. The department is famous for its Pre-Columbian archa ...

and Lempira department. The town was on various occasions the capital of the State of Honduras. On 7 May 1862 the nation's President Don Victoriano Castellanos Cortes, issued Legislative Decree No. 3, giving the country the title of "Republic of Honduras" instead of "State of Honduras." In 1865, the town was renamed Santa Rosa de Copán. Its Catedral de Santa Rosa, dedicated to Saint Rosa, is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán (established on 1916.02.02).

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Santa Rosa has a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(''Cwb'') that closely borders a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cwa''). Temperatures are relatively consistent year throughout the course of the year and the town is not as hot as other locations in the tropics because of its altitude. Like other locations with this climate, there is a pronounced drier season during the “winter” months. The location sees on average roughly 1500mm of precipitation annually.

Sports

Football club Deportes Savio has been playing in the Honduran National league since 2007 and play their home matches at the Estadio Sergio Antonio Reyes.

References

External links

Interactive Map Santa Rosa de Copan

Bibliography