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Guapi is a town and municipality in the
Cauca Department Cauca Department (, ) is a department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila De ...
, Colombia. The municipality of Guapi is located on the Guapi River, from the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, and also covers the island of Gorgona.


Culture

Guapi is a predominantly
Afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest African diaspora, Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
area, with a rich local history. Combining both aspects, and most prominent in local tradition, Guapireños have been building ''balsadas'' – handcrafted two-tiered boats decorated with native materials – every December, as part of two ceremonies related to
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
, for many generations. A Guapireño described the tradition as "a cultural manifestation that has been preserved for centuries and that is linked with the black community's history of resistance". The ''balsadas'' traditionally honor the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, the town's
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
, and are floated down the Guapi River on the nights of both 7 December ( Day of the Little Candles) and
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
. Over three days at the start of December, families in the community build the ''balsadas'', which consist of large canoes, then wooden rafts with two levels constructed on top of the canoes. Local yellow corozo leaves are used for the roof and for decoration, carefully looped into patterns. Other decorations are less natural, including balloons and lights; these are used to make the rafts appear blue and white, the colors of the town's flag. The principal decoration is an image of the Virgin Mary. Afro-Pacific music is performed on the ''balsadas'' when they are floated, and occupants often dance; the festivities have expanded to include pyrotechnics as the ''balsadas'' approach the town square. Thousands of
coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
set alight meet the ''balsadas'' in the river at the square, where the image of the Virgin Mary is carried from the ''balsadas'' to the church ahead of the next day's
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
of the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 December, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September. It is one of the most important Marian feasts in the l ...
. Residents identify strongly with the ''balsadas'', which unites them both as a community activity and as a unique traditional activity pertaining to Guapi. In the 21st century, a large tourist ''balsada'' was added to the procession, with visitors able to pay to ride on it. This, and the protected heritage status of the ''balsadas'', have been points of contention among the resident population. Some feel that being named cultural heritage and the resulting extra funding would help to protect the tradition, while others worry that the increased awareness will further commercialise it. The associated music was inscribed as
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, science ...
in 2015, with the ''balsadas'' highlighted in the listing.


Religion

Guapi is largely Catholic. The
Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi The Vicariate Apostolic of Guapi () in the Catholic Church is located in the town of Guapi, Cauca in Colombia. History On 5 April 1954 Pope Pius XII established the Prefecture Apostolic of Guapi from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tumaco, Prefectu ...
is located in Guapi. Cardinal Fernando Filoni has visited at the Vicariate, where in 2016 he called on Colombians to embrace peace among the community and the wider country. At the time, the church (as organised religion) in the town was identified as in development, seeking clergy, with the visit also forming an appeal to local people to become more materially involved with the church.


Climate

Like all of the Pacific Coast of Colombia, Guapi has a hot, oppressively humid, cloudy and very wet
tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Af''). Though it is primarily served by the Guapi River, the Nape River and San Francisco River also run through the area. In November 2015, the Nape and San Francisco rivers significantly flooded Guapi, affecting 1,662 families. People were evacuated to Chuare, three hours upstream, despite this town having suffered a landslide due to the floods.


Transportation

The city is served by Guapi Airport.


Notable people

* Lucrecia Panchano, poet * Jorge Perlaza, footballer * Hernán Alvarado Solano, bishop


References

{{Reflist Municipalities of Cauca Department Road-inaccessible communities of Colombia