La Campa

La Campa sits in a gorge below Gracias with a colonial church on a terrace above the houses, and it is the centre of Lenca pottery: coil-built vessels in white slip with black or brown designs, made by women in home workshops and fired in open kilns rather than on a wheel. Several workshops take visitors through the process, from clay to firing. The village is small, steep and green, with waterfalls in the gorge below.

Background

La Campa lies about 18 kilometres from Gracias along a dirt road, at the bottom of a deep river valley close to Montaña Celaque, the highest mountain in Honduras. Records from 1582 describe it as a small town, and it was once known as Tecauxinas. In 1887 it counted as a village of Gracias, and it became a municipality in 1921. The 2013 census gave the municipality 6,515 people, living in 5 designated villages plus 49 further named settlements. In hill communities such as Cruz Alta, families grow coffee along with rice, mango, bananas and black beans, and much of the pottery sold in town is made there. The San Matias festival runs from 15 to 28 February.

Source: Wikipedia, "La Campa"

The main sights

• The pottery workshops - coil-built Lenca ware made and decorated by hand.
• The open firing - vessels fired in ground kilns rather than in a closed furnace.
• The colonial church - San Matias on its terrace above the village.
• The gorge - the valley below the village with falls and pools.

When to go

November to April is the driest and easiest for the road. Workshops run on weekdays. The village is cool and can be misty in the afternoons.

Before you go

The road down from Gracias is steep and narrow. Workshops are family homes and visits are informal; buying is the fair exchange. The village has very little in the way of facilities.

Nearby

Gracias and Celaque National Park are north, and San Manuel de Colohete is southwest.