Presidential palace, Honduras
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The Presidential Palace of Honduras is the official residence of the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
Republic of Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean ...
. Currently the President resides in the Palacio
José Cecilio del Valle José Cecilio Díaz del Valle (November 22, 1780 – March 2, 1834) was a philosopher, politician, lawyer, and journalist and one of the most important figures in Central America during the transition from colonial government to independenc ...
.


History


19th century

In 1821 the 'City Council of Comayagua' was the first official residence of the Honduran head of state. The location of the capital remained there for almost 60 years, until being moved to
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
, via Decree No. 11 on October 30, 1880. Doctor Marco Aurelio Soto, the “Reformer of the Republic”, also relocated the judicial and legislative headquarters, the federal reserve, and the state university to Tegucigalpa. The first presidential house in the city of Tegucigalpa was a two-story wooden building built by Juan Judas Salavarría, located on the south west side of Plaza de la Merced. Today it is the ground floor of the current Legislative Palace. The executive offices were housed on the second floor, where there were the offices of Mr. President Dr. Soto and the government Secretary General Dr. Ramón Rosa . In 1883 the president of Honduras, the General
Luis Bográn Luis Bográn Barahona (3 June 1849 – 9 July 1895) was a president of Honduras, who served two consecutive terms from 30 November 1883 to 30 November 1891. He was born in the northern Honduran department of Santa Bárbara on 3 June 1849 to S ...
, decided that the busy house by the Plaza de la Merced was not suitable enough, and moved the offices to another building, which was to the right of the session hall of the National Congress. This building had stone foundations, walls made out of adobe, and wide living rooms for the governmental administration, decorated with the national banner, pavilion, shields, and paintings of the national heroes. It also had a part allocated for the guard or presidential escort, which would later become the School of Capes and Sergeants. The following Honduran presidents lived in this house: General Luis Bográn Barahona, General Ponciano Leiva Madrid, General Domingo Vásquez Toruño, Doctor Policarpo Bonilla Vásquez, Engineer Terencio Sierra Romero, General Manuel Bonilla Chirinos, Doctor Miguel Rafael Dávila Cuéllar and Doctor Francisco Bertrand Barahona. Doctor Francisco Bertrand Barahona would again move the governmental headquarters to a new building where today one finds the Central Bank of Honduras, and where there used to be the national post office.


20th century

In 1914 Honduras undertook development for a new seat of government. The Barahona administration purchased a parcel of land from Jerónimo Zelaya for 40,000 Honduran pesos. The Italian architect Augusto Bressani designed this new presidential mansion. It was a two story stone building with a classical Victorian façade, watchtowers, a presidential office, and a dome atop which flew the national flag. It also had apartments, offices on the ground floor called “blue living rooms” for receptions, a meeting room known as the “hall of mirrors”, a patio and cubicles for the presidential guard, ceilings with wood and clay tiling plastered and decorated with glass shard lamps, corridors lined with statues brought from Italy, and floors paved with
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s and ceramics made in the workshops of Bellucci in Italy. Construction finished on the new presidential house in 1919 under the presidency of the General Rafael López Gutiérrez who was the first person to live in the new house. The following Honduran leaders lived in this house: General Vicente Tosta Carrasco, Doctor
Miguel Paz Barahona Miguel Paz Barahona (3 September 1863 – 11 November 1937) was President of Honduras from 1 February 1925 to 1 February 1929. Barahona was a member of the National Party of Honduras (PNH). The PNH nominated Barahona as their presidential ca ...
, Doctor
Vicente Mejía Colindres Vicente Mejía Colindres (6 April 1878 – 24 August 1966) was President of Honduras between 16 September and 5 October 1919; and again between 1 February 1929 and 1 February 1933. A successful beginning to his presidency was dampened by the ...
, Doctor and General
Tiburcio Carias Andino Tiburcio, the Spanish form of Tiburtius (disambiguation), Tiburtius, may refer to: *Tiburcio Carías Andino (1876–1969), Honduran military strongman *Tiburcio de León, Filipino general (the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War) *Jos ...
, Doctor Juan Manuel Gálvez Durón, Accountant
Julio Lozano Díaz Julio Lozano Díaz (27 March 1885 – 20 August 1957), was first Vice President of Honduras (1949–1954) and then President of Honduras, from 5 December 1954 until 21 October 1956. He was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and worked as an account ...
, the Military Triumvirate of 1956-1959, Doctor José Ramón Adolfo Villeda Morales, General Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano, Lawyer
Ramón Ernesto Cruz Uclés Ramón Ernesto Cruz Uclés (4 January 1903 – 6 August 1985) was the President of Honduras from 7 June 1971 to 4 December 1972. Biography Cruz was born in San Juan de Flores in Honduras. His Father was Carlos Alberto Cruz and his mother Eli ...
, General
Juan Alberto Melgar Castro Juan Alberto Melgar Castro (20 June 1930 – 2 December 1987) was a army officer in the Honduran military who served as the head of state of Honduras from 22 April 1975 to 7 August 1978, when he was removed from power by others in the military ...
, General Policarpo Juan Paz García, Doctor
Roberto Suazo Córdova Roberto Suazo Córdova (17 March 1927 – 22 December 2018) was the President of Honduras from 1982 until 1986. Suazo Córdova died on 22 December 2018 following an ulcer surgical operation at the age of 91. Presidency In 1981, Suazo Córdova ...
, Engineer José Simón Azcona of the Hoyo. After 72 years of leaders living in this presidential house, and after the first two years of the administration of the Graduate
Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero (14 November 1943 – 4 April 2020) was the President of Honduras from 27 January 1990 to 27 January 1994, representing the National Party of Honduras (PNH). Early life and education Callejas was born on 14 No ...
, the presidential headquarters were moved to a modern building in the Governmental Civic Center on Miraflores Boulevard, next to the Palace of Justice. Callejas would order the restoration of the former presidential mansion, which would be urgent and costly, as the building had been given to the National Archive of Honduras (NAH) and a national museum, and the former presidential mansion had been elevated to the status of National Historical Heritage. In the following two years of his government, the president Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero would work in a six story building where there were also the offices of the executive, presidential appointees, presidential advisers, the paymaster, information and governmental press, the secretariat hall events, the chamber of ministers and other units. While still bigger than the former presidential mansion, even this new building didn't fulfill the needs of the executive branch. In the new building Callejas received his successor, Doctor Carlos Roberto Reina Idiáquez, in 1994.


Current presidential residence

In 1998, the new constitutional president Engineer Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé was not satisfied with the building chosen by the ex president Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero and decided to move the executive headquarters to a new building that was allocated for the Ministry of External Relations. The Palace José Cecilio del Valle, originally built in 1988, designed by the architect Jorge Luciano Durón Bustillo, was chosen as the new executive headquarters. Since then, the following Honduran leaders have lived in this building: Carlos Roberto Flores Facussé, Graduate
Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest (born 20 April 1946 in Panama) is a Honduran politician who served as President of Honduras from 2002 to 2006. A member of the National Party, Maduro was previously chairman of the Central Bank of Honduras. He gra ...
, gentleman José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, the provisional government of the gentleman Roberto Michelleti Bain, the Graduate
Porfirio Lobo Sosa Porfirio Lobo Sosa (born 22 December 1947), known as Pepe Lobo, is a Honduran politician and agricultural landowner who served as President of Honduras from 2010 to 2014. A member of the conservative National Party and a former deputy in the ...
, Lawyer Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado, and the current leader of Honduras,
Xiomara Castro Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento (; born 30 September 1959), also known as Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, is a Honduran politician who is the 56th president of Honduras, in office since January 2022. She is the country's first female president, havin ...
.


Other presidential houses

* Between 1852 and 1853 under the presidency of the General José Trinidad Cabins the city of Santa Rosa of Copán becomes the provisional capital of Honduras, and the building of the “National House” turns into presidential house. Later, in 1862 during the provisional presidency of entrepreneur Victoriano Castellanos Cortes, he chose two houses he owned and made them the headquarters of the Executive and Legislative branches. It was also the temporary capital in 1863 to repel the attack of the Guatemalan General José Rafael Career Turcios. * Between 1875 and 1876 in the city of
Gracias Gracias () is a small Honduran town/municipality that was founded in 1536, and is the capital of Lempira Department. The municipality has a population of 57,182 and the town a population of 16,680 (2020 calculation). It is located in the moun ...
, Lempira, the General
José María Medina José María Medina Castejón (8 September 1826 – 1878) served as the President of Honduras three times during the 1860s and 1870s. Medina was born in Sensenti. While his father is not known, his mother's name was Antonia Medina Castejón. ...
occupied a house of adobe with a wooden coffer ceiling and tile clay as its seat of government.


See also

* National historical monuments of Honduras *
Executive branch of the government of Honduras The Republic of Honduras is organized according to Title I: On the State of the Honduran Constitution of 1982. According to Title V: Branches of the Government, the three administrative branches are the legislative, executive and judicial. The ...
*
President of Honduras The president of Honduras ( es, Presidente de Honduras) officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: ''Presidente de la República de Honduras''), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Com ...
* First Lady of Honduras *


References

* Report dated on 23 September 2007. Daily The Herald, Honduras. * Report dated on 14 May 2011. Daily The Press, Honduras.


Bibliography

* Aguilar, Juan Manuel. "Brief Historical Review of the House of Government of Honduras" Tegucigalpa, Honduras. {{coord missing, Honduras Residential buildings in Honduras Government buildings in Honduras Presidential residences