Ojojona

Ojojona was founded in the sixteenth century on silver and kept its colonial street plan almost intact: single-storey adobe houses with tiled roofs, wooden doors and grilles, and three colonial churches within a few blocks. It is best known now for pottery, made in workshops around the village in a distinctive dark clay, and for having been much less restored than Valle de Ángeles, which shows in the wear on the buildings.

History

Before Spanish colonisation the site was home to Lenca people, and in 1579 Spanish miners working the gold and silver mines of the area founded the town. Land titles for the pueblo of Ojojona appear by 1739, the count of 1791 lists it as the head of a parish, and it is the birthplace of the painter Pablo Zelaya Sierra (Wikipedia, Ojojona).

What you'll find

• The pottery workshops - dark-clay ceramics made and fired in the village.
• The colonial churches - three within a few blocks, plain and whitewashed.
• The street plan - the sixteenth-century layout of adobe and tile, largely unaltered.
• The village square - the plaza with its church, the centre of everything.

When to go

November to April is the driest. Weekends bring visitors from Tegucigalpa; weekdays are quiet and workshops are working. The village is at altitude and cool.

Practical notes

There is less laid on for visitors here than at Valle de Angeles, which is the appeal and also means fewer places to eat. Pottery workshops are homes and yards, so asking before wandering in matters. The road in is winding.

Nearby

Tegucigalpa is forty minutes northeast, and Sabanagrande is further south on the same road.