Tegucigalpa Museums

Surprisingly Tegucigalpa has several great museums. For example, there's an art museum in the building next to Congress. That building was apparently the first campus of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH in Spanish) and also includes a Colonial-era Catholic Church and present-day church offices. Another excellent museum is Chiminike. Now, I haven't been there personally, but I've seen the pictures, and heard the testimonials of people comparing it favorably with the Children's museum in Boston, for instance. The exterior is easily the most architecturally beautiful postmodernist building in the city. Today I had to return to Tegucigalpa, suddenly and prematurely, because a client urgently needed help program of mine. So I flew back to Teguz (can't complain there) and spent the morning working in the center of town. On the way back I decided to check out a new museum called the National Identity Museum. The building was built in the early 20th century as El Palacio de Los Ministerios. (Only a bureaucracy can celebrate its ministries by building palaces for them). After an extensive renovation, the building itself is worth the visit though. Unfortunately, I missed an exposition of Rembrandt drawings, and an ultramodern 3D virtual tour of Copán in it's heyday, called Copán Virtual. Still, I got to see an excellent exhibition room full of Honduran history. As you go in, a screen in the shape of the globe shows the formation of Central America as the continents shifted. This is the best way to see and understand continental drift! Many old maps and artifacts from colonial times are displayed. Video presentations show the Maya ball game, archaeologists, former presidents, and immigrants from Palestine (who became a major economic force in Honduras). My favorite artifact: A late 19th century document, our first international debt, a loan for 2,500,000 Pounds Sterling to build a railroad across the north of Honduras. The remnants of that railroad are still visible from Puerto Cortes in the west to Puerto Castilla in the east. It has a fancy border, gothic lettering, although I can't recall who signed it, the money came from a London bank. Image from El Heraldo