Útica

Utica is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

located some 127 kilometers from

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. The village lies at an altitude of 506 meters above sea level and has an average daily temperature of 26 °C. Utica grew from a small fishing community, with the Rio Negro and the

Quebradanegra Quebradanegra () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrat ...

running through it. The village is prone to flooding, caused by heavy rains further up the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

causing the rivers to burst their banks. The most severe flood washed away the village bridge and unearthed the corpses from the cemetery. The village is a vacation spot particularly promoting extreme sports such as rafting and abseiling. The village is said to have been founded by

Manuel Murillo Toro Manuel Murillo Toro (January 1, 1816–December 26, 1880) was a Colombian statesman who served as President of the United States of Colombia (present day Colombia) on two occasions, first from 1864 to 1866, and again between 1872 and 1874.A ...

c. 1802 who stopped whilst travelling, liked the area and built a house. The building remains as the defunct railway station in Curapo Utica {{Cundinamarca-geo-stub