Chocontá Explained

Chocontá
Settlement Type:Municipality and town
Mapsize:250px
Pushpin Map:Colombia
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Colombia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Colombia
Subdivision Type1:Department
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Almeidas Province
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Jorge Enrique Pinzón Pinzón
(2016–2019)
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:6 September 1563
Founder:Tómas López
Area Total Km2:300.2
Area Urban Km2:1.58
Population As Of:2018 census
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:20568
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Urban:10554
Population Density Urban Km2:auto
Coordinates:5.1467°N -73.6825°W
Timezone:Colombia Standard Time
Utc Offset:-5
Elevation M:2655
Website:Official website

Chocontá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. It is located on the Pan-American Highway. In 1938 Chocontá had a population of 2,041.[2]

Etymology

In the Chibcha language of the Muisca, Chocontá means: "Farmlands of the good ally" or "Garden of the neighbour".[3]

History

Chocontá is located in the territories of the Muisca on the border between the area led by the cacique of Vélez and the southern Muisca zipazgo reign. Around 1490 the armies of the northern Muisca led by Michuá and the warriors of the southern Muisca ruled by Saguamanchica confronted each other in the bloody Battle of Chocontá.

The Spanish conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada reached the Colombian highlands in 1537. On 9 June 1537, Pentecostal day, the Spanish arrived in Chocontá and Father Fray Domingo de las Casas named it Pueblo del Espíritu Santo ("Town of the Holy Spirit") with a mass. The village was founded by Tómas López on 6 September 1563 and relocated in 1573.[3]

In 1854 the presidential headquarters was located in Chocontá and on 21 April 1854 Tomás de Herrera was proclaimed president in the rectory of the town. On 9 August 1819 at 2 pm liberator Simón Bolívar arrived to Chocontá and stayed to rest in what currently is the House of Culture after his triumph, defining the fate of the Colombian Republic.[4]

Trivia

Gallery

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.citypopulation.de/en/colombia/cundinamarca/25183/ Citypopulation.de
  2. Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952) p. 403
  3. Official website Chocontá
  4. History of Chocontá
  5. Version of Spanish language Wikipedia – accessed 20-04-2016