Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Comayagua, Baroque cathedral in Comayagua, Honduras

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral features three naves with barrel vaults and hemispherical domes lit by ten windows. Its brick and adobe walls form the structure of this Baroque building.

A first church was begun in 1563; damaged around 1610, it was rebuilt from 1611 to 1634 under bishops Alonso Vargas y Abarca, Juan Pérez Carpintero and Antonio López de Guadalupe, with retables brought from Jaén. After the walls deteriorated, a third phase started in 1705, reshaping the façade; the cathedral was inaugurated on 8 December 1711 and blessed in 1715. About 18 indigenous communities and masons took part, per the IHAH.

The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary, and its main altar holds a gilded wooden altarpiece with a carving of the Immaculate Conception. The crucifix above it was made in 1620 by the Jaén sculptor Francisco de Ocampo and donated by King Philip II of Spain. Eight images in the temple were gifts from Philip VI.

The cathedral faces the Plaza Central, the city's main square, where the historic centre was rehabilitated at the start of this century under the IHAH with support from the Spanish Cooperation Agency. The building has a Latin cross plan with three naves, so allow time to walk the side aisles and the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Look for the ten windows that light the interior.

Inside the cathedral are the tombs of bishops Juan Merlo de la Fuente and Gaspar de Andrade; their bodies, found incorrupt, were displayed in glass urns until 1963, when Monsignor Bernardino Mozzarella ordered them hidden. The main altar holds a crucifix carved in 1620 by the Jaén sculptor Francisco de Ocampo.