La Ceja del Tambo, often called simply La Ceja, is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Antioquia Department ) , anthem = Himno de Antioquia , image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Antioquia shown in red , image_ma ...

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 ...

. It is part of the subregion of

Eastern Antioquia Eastern Antioquia ( es, Oriente Antioqueño) is subregion of the Colombian Department of Antioquia. The region consists of 23 municipalities. Geography The region of Eastern Antioquia limits to the north west with the Metropolitan Area of Med ...

. La Ceja borders the

Rionegro Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is "Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro". Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the cit ...

and

Carmen de Viboral El Carmen de Viboral is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. It is part of the subregion of Eastern Antioquia Eastern Antioquia ( es, Oriente Antioqueño) is subregion of the Colombian Department of Antioquia ...

municipalities to the north, La Unión to the east, and Montebello and Retiro to the west. It is located approximately 41 kilometers from

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, one of the main cities of the department. The town is known for being well-connected with other towns and municipalities in Antioquia through its extensive roads and highways, including the Medellin-Bogota highway, the Las Palmas roads, and the Medellín Santa Elena road. It also has a dirt road that leads to the Mesopotamia neighborhood of La Unión. Father Germán Montoya wrote the hymn for the town, called "Hymn of La Ceja del Tambo". Donato Duque Patiño created the flag.

History

The territory today known as "La Ceja" was first inhabited by the Tahamíes. Tahamíes is an indigenous people dedicated to agriculture, specifically the cultivation of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

. By 1541 the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the town, led by Álvaro de Mendoza, deputy to Marshal Jorge Robledo. On arrival to this region, Mendoza discovered a vast and fertile valley full of green meadows furrowed by abundant and clean water. He called it the "Valley of Santamaría", which today is known as the "Valley of La Ceja del Tambo". Since the early 17th century, many people from Antioquia, especially residents of Medellín and

Santa Fe de Antioquia Santa Fe de Antioquia is a municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. The city is located approximately north of Medellín, the department capital. It has a population of approximately 23,000 inhabitants. History Founded in 1541 by ...

, moved to the area due to its natural attractions and fertile land suitable for agricultural industry and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

. In 1683, a path was cleared between San Nicolás de

and Santiago de Arma, which in turn led to

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian departments of Colombia, department of Cauca Department, Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Cordillera Occidental (Colombia), Western Mountain Range and Cordillera Central (Colo ...

. The locals built a shelter, or "tambo" to the side of this route, which originated the subsequent naming of this town as "La Ceja del Tambo". The town was founded as "La Ceja" on 7 December 1789. It was founded by María Josefa Marulanda Londoño and Father José Pablo de Villa. By 1824, the town had 2,012 inhabitants, of which 98 were slaves. La Ceja was elevated to the status of municipality in 1855. In 1905, the first studies for the installation of an aqueduct were made and in 1927 came into operation the first aqueduct and sewerage systems.

Demography

Total population: 48,879 inhabitants (2009) * Urban population: 41,587 * Rural population: 7,292

Ethnography

According to figures presented by

DANE Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

census in 2005, the ethnic makeup of the township is the following:Censo oficial DANE 2005, Perfiles Departamentos y Municipios
* Mestizo & White: 92.1% *

Afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent ( Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos). History Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colomb ...

: 7.9%

Economy

Unlike other towns in eastern Antioquia that focus on

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, La Ceja has traditionally been a town of agriculture and raising livestock. The main agricultural products of the Municipality are

tamarillo The tamarillo (''Solanum betaceum'') is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae (the nightshade family). It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit. It is also known as the tree ...

, bananas, blackberries, caturro and coffee, and other fruits and vegetables. Traditionally, dairy farming has been a very important part of the economy. Currently about 70,000 litres of milk per day are produced in the region. To the north of the city, there are many cut flower growers and exporters, which provide the main source of employment for La Ceja's inhabitants. The majority of the production from these flower farms is exported to the United States. The main flower varieties in production are chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, gerberas, and asters.

Places of interest

The town has more than a thousand commercial establishments: restaurants, cafes, bars, entertainment centers, newsstands, clothing stores, Internet cafes, drugstores, supermarkets, hotels, shops, travel agencies and leases, health centers, schools, and more. The main plaza also has two churches, the Chapel of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá and the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Carmen. The former chapel is also considered a museum of religious art, and contains works by artists such as

Gregorio Vasquez de Arce y Ceballos Gregorio is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Gregorio Conrado Álvarez (1925–2016), Uruguayan army general and de facto President of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985 * Gregorio Álvarez (historian) (1889–1986), ...

. Additional attractions include the following: * Buey river waterfall * Pantanillo river * Juan de Dios Aranzazu Theater * Gregorio Gutiérrez González House of Culture In addition to all the typical gastronomy of the

Paisa region A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central ''cordilleras'' of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. S ...

, La Ceja is famous for its sweets and preserves such as custards, jams, jellies, arequipes, chocolate delicacies, and panelitas.

Gallery

File:2018 Bogotá La Ceja Antioquia, vista aérea.jpg, La Ceja from the air File:Droguería La Ceja.jpg, Shops and restaurants on the main plaza File:Fachada Capilla Nuestra Sra de Chiquinquira La Ceja Antioquia Colombia.JPG, Chapel of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá File:La Ceja 2.JPG, Main plaza

References

* Gaviria Correa, Anibal (Dirección) (2000). ''Municipios de Mi Tierra. 31 El Retiro-La Ceja-Carmen de Viboral, Oriente''. Editorial El Mundo, Medellín.

External links

*
La Ceja official website
*
ViveLaCeja - Culture and tourism website
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