Omoa is a tiny coastal town about 45 minutes west of San Pedro Sula. It is a fairly sleepy little town, with nothing really of note except a SEA FORTRESS. The Fortaleza San Fernando de Omoa was built by the Spaniards back in the late 1700s to defend Spanish territories in Honduras from pirates and French and British troops. While it did a stellar job staving off the first two, the British were able to capture the fort and occupy it for a short period of time before they abandoned it. I believe they abandoned it within a matter of weeks. Spain snatched it back up and occupied until a coalition of Central American countries declared independence in 1823. Omoa was the last area of Spanish military presence in Central America.

The Federal Republic of Central America was fairly short lived as far as countries go. It soon dissolved into what is now known as the Central American 5- Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. I am unsure of the exact year, but in the late 1800s/early 1900s, the fort in Omoa became Honduras' most notorious prison. In 1959, the government recognized what an important historical landmark it was and declared it as such. Current efforts are being made to restore it to its original state, although I am not sure what original state they mean. To clarify (so you can be as confused as I am)...one would think that original state means...the state it was in originally. Walls are being replastered, mold damage is being repaired, rotten wood is being replaced, etc. Thus far things are making sense. There are many areas that still have bullet and cannon damage from when the British captured the fort. It is pretty neat to see how well it has been preserved. According to our guide "those walls aren't going to be changed". However...there is damage on every wall, save one. So...I am not exactly understanding how the original state is going to be achieved if every wall except for one is not going to be restored. I guess I am not an archaeologist or scholar really of any kind, so my opinion isn't really that important. But man, I really am curious.

Here are a couple shots of the fort, and then a model of what the fort/surrounding area looked like before the coastline changed. It is now much further inland than it was originally.