The Immaculate Conception Cathedral also called Comayagua Cathedral It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is located in the Central Square of the city of Comayagua in Honduras, it is one of the oldest cathedrals in Central America, built from 1634 and inaugurated on December 8, 1711 and blessed in 1715. The cathedral was initiated by the then Bishop of Comayagua Alonso Vargas y Abarca, continued by Bishop Fray Juan Pérez Carpintero and completed by Bishop Fray Antonio López de Guadalupe, most of the construction work took place between 1685 and 1715 when it was solemnly blessed.
Architecture
Inside
It consists of a Latin cross plan with three naves with a barrel vault, with five sections, the presbytery is covered with three hemispherical domes. It has an annex where the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is located. On the main altar you can see a gilded wooden altarpiece, with a carving of the image of the Immaculate Conception made in 1620 by spanish artist Francisco de Ocampo and donated to the city by King Felipe II of Spain. The eight images that are distributed in the temple were donated by Felipe VI of Spain as well as the crucified one donated in 1620 and made by the Jaén sculptor Andrés Ocampo. OutsideOutside, the façade has a Renaissance and baroque style. Its made in the form of an altarpiece with three streets, the central one wider where the semicircular arch entrance door is located. The streets are divided vertically by attached columns and horizontally by cornices forming four floors. Inside some niches of this facade, there are the images of four doctors of the Church in the side streets and in the central one, on the third floor, there are the statues of the Virgin Mary and on their sides Saint John the Baptist and Saint Joseph, finally on the fourth floor is the figure of Christ blessing. The four-story bell tower stands out on the left side of this main façade, the last one is where the eight bells that it has are placed, later in its construction to the façade, this bell tower is finished off with a glazed colored ceramic dome.
Clock
In the tower of the cathedral there is also the oldest clock in the Americas, built by the Arabs during their occupation in Spain around the year 1100. Before it was transferred to the americas it was working in the Alhambra arab palace in Spain. On the orders of King Felipe III of Spain, it was transferred to the Hibueras region of Hibueras of the New Spain where it would function as the city's clock. The clock mechanism is based on gears, ropes, weights and a pendulum, the whole set shows the time on the dial located on the facade of the church where the number 4 in Roman numerals is shown as IIII and not as IV. There is a conflict between whether or not it is the oldest on the planet, its contender is a watch found in England and it is alleged that it is the oldest, however, it is made on the basis of cast iron and that of Comayagua in wrought iron base, of the two techniques the wrought iron is older than the one used in the English clock so it follows that the Comayagua is the oldest
