Lempira Day in Honduras 2023: Date, History, Facts about Honduras

Lempira Day is the 20th of July. It is an annual Honduran celebration commemorating a Lenca indigenous leader who led the 1530s resistance against the Spanish conquistadors. Chief Lempira assembled a 30,000-man army to battle the Spanish conquistadors, but it was ineffective. Despite the failure of the Lempira rebellion, the commander of the Lenca is recognised as a national hero of Honduras. On the one lempira bill is the word Lempira, which is also the name of one of the country’s 18 departments. Lempira Day is not a national holiday, but it is celebrated throughout Honduras, especially in schools (the majority of Honduran schools are in session in July).

The background of Lempira Day

Lempira was the warrior monarch of the Lenca people in western Honduras, Central America. In the 1530s, he commanded the resistance against Francisco de Montejo’s efforts to conquer the region and incorporate it into the Honduran province. Under the direction of their Governor, Francisco de Montejo, the Spaniards attacked Lempira in the Peol de Cirque, which is now the Lempira Department. Lempira retreated to a mountain and fought the Spaniards for months, according to Herrera. A camouflaged Spanish soldier armed with an arquebus shot and killed him after the Spaniards finally persuaded him to speak. The Lenca gave up when they observed this.

In the 1980s, Honduran historian Mario Felipe Martnez Castillo discovered a distinct version of Lempira in the 1558 Mexico City publication Méritos y Servicios: Rodrigo Ruiz, Nueva Espaa. The document is located at the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla, Spain. Patronato 69 R.5 details the participation of Rodrigo Ruiz in Francisco Montejo’s conquest of Honduras. It contains his account of how he murdered Lempira. The document consists of a series of queries answered by witnesses to the conquest of the Spanish king by Rodrigo Ruiz. He intended to receive a pension for his services.

The majority of the population of Honduras resides in the country’s mountainous interior, which may explain the country’s relatively isolated approach to Latin American and Central American affairs. Honduras, like its neighbours in the region, is a developing nation whose population confronts numerous economic and social challenges, which are exacerbated by the country’s harsh topography and the occurrence of violent tropical weather patterns, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Take Your Poet to Work Day 2023: Date, History, Facts, Activities

Stick Out Your Tongue Day 2023: Date, History, Facts, Events

National Words with Friends Day 2023: Date, History, Facts, Activities

5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HONDURAS

It was named by Christopher Columbus after the deep waters that surrounded the coast, which translates to “vast depths” in Spanish.

The coral reef in Honduras is the second largest in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef.

Honduras has a twin capital ― Comayagüela and Tegucigalpa.

Honduras was the first nation to prohibit smoking in the home, and smokers must maintain a six-foot distance from nonsmokers.

The Moors constructed the timepiece in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, in 1100 A.D.

LEMPIRA DAY DATES