On his fourth and final voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus landed in Trujillo on 14 August 1502. It was the first time he had actually set foot on the Central American mainland. The water in the bay was very deep and he named the area Golfo de Honduras, meaning ‘ The Gulf of the Depths’. 

In 1524, Hernán Cortés, the Spanish Conquistador arrived in the region to consolidate the military victories over Mexico, establishing the settlement of Triunfo de la Cruz, beginning almost 300 years of Spanish rule. 

Honduras became part of the Kingdom of Guatemala, which included the present-day nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Chiapas. 

Spain had been weakened by its involvement in the Peninsular War in Europe and local juntas had been created as local Spanish had revolted against the rule of King Joseph, Napoleon’s brother who had been installed as ruler of Spain by the French. 

This taste for independent rule persisted after King Ferdinand came to the Spanish throne and on 15 September 1821, the Act of Independence of Central America was declared by the Province of Guatemala. 

Following independence and despite opposition from El Salvador, the regions became part of the Mexican Empire, until they ceded to become the Federal Republic of Central America in 1823.