Gachancipá is a municipality and town of

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 ...

in the

Central Savanna Province Central Savanna Province ( es, Sabana Centro) is one of the fifteen provinces of Cundinamarca, in the country of Colombia. It is located in the central area of the department, and has 11 municipalities. The province capital is the city of Zipaq ...

, part of the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital

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 municipality borders Guatavita and

Tocancipá Tocancipá () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tocancipá is situated in the northern part of the Bogotá savanna, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Easte ...

in the south, Sesquilé and Guatavita in the east, Nemocón in the west and

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and i ...

in the north.Official website Gachancipá

Etymology

The name Gachancipá comes from Chibcha and means "Pottery of the ''zipa''".

History

The area of Gachancipá before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by the Muisca, organised in their loose

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', '' iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The ...

. Gachancipá, as the name suggests, was ruled by the '' zipa'' based in

Bacatá Bacatá is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referring to the modern settlement of Fu ...

. Modern Gachancipá was founded on January 1, 1612 but the founders are unknown. In the late 18th century Muisca scholar José Domingo Duquesne was based in Gachancipá. A school in the town is named after him.School named after Duquesne in Gachancipá
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Economy

The economy of Gachancipá traditionally was centered around agriculture and livestock farming. In recent years flowers are cultivated in the municipality.

Gallery

File:Iglesia San Bartoleme Apostol.jpg, Church of Gachancipá File:IglesiadeGanchancipá.jpg, Church File:La Gacha.JPG, Monument to the indigenous people

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gachancipa Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1612 1612 establishments in the Spanish Empire Muisca Confederation Muysccubun