Lempira Department Lempira Department Lempira is one of the 18 departments of Honduras, Central America, located in the western part of the country with borders with El Salvador. It was named Gracias department until 1943, and the departmental capital is Gracias. In colonial times, Gracias was an early important administrative center for the Spaniards. It eventually lost importance to Antigua, in Guatemala. Lempira is a rugged department, and it is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The highest mountain peak in Honduras, Cerro las Minas, is in Lempira. The department was named after Lempira, a local chieftain of the Lenca
Lempira (Lenca ruler) Governor, Francisco de Montejo, attacked Lempira at the Peñol de Cerquín, near Gracias Department. According to Herrera, Lempira retreated to a fortified hill top where he resisted the Spaniards for many months. Finally, the Spaniards lured him out to talk, and a concealed Spanish soldier with an arquebus shot and killed him. On seeing this, Herrera reports, the Lenca surrendered. This is essentially the official version that is taught to Honduran children in school. The Spanish then ate his corpse in disrespect, many of lempiras men fought the Spanish and taking a victory for their leader. In the 1980s, the