Suesca is a town and municipality in the

Almeidas Province Almeidas Province ( es, Provincia de Almeidas, ) is one of the 15 provinces in the Cundinamarca Department, Colombia. Almeidas borders to the east with the Boyacá Department to the north with the Ubaté Province, to the west with the Central Sav ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

, north of 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 largest ...

. Suesca forms the northern edge of the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ra ...

and is a scenic countryside town which is well known because its landscape attracts devotees of rock climbing, trekking, and rafting. It is surrounded by dairy farms and flower plantations. The municipality borders Cucunubá and Lenguazaque in the north, Sesquilé and Gachancipá in the south, Chocontá in the east and Nemocón in the west.Official website Suesca
/ref>

Etymology

The name Suesca is derived from the Chibcha word ''Suejica'', ''Sueica''Wills et al., 2001, Ch.43 - Rocas de Suesca - paraíso de escaladores, p.163 or ''Suesuca'', which means "Rock of the birds" or "Tail of the macaw".Etymology Suesca
- Banco de la República

History

Suesca was inhabited early in the history of inhabitation of the Altiplano and the rock shelters formed the site for semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers of the Herrera and preceramic periods. Before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predec ...

, Suesca was part of the

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

. The ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a ...

'' of Guatavita ruled over Suesca, the village close to the

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or godd ...

Lake Guatavita and containing Lake Suesca where rituals were held. Suesca formed an important centre on the trade

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

to Boyacá, ruled by the '' hoa'' of Hunza. The merchants took

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

and

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

on their way to the north. Every four days a market was held in Suesca. Suesca was also an important settlement for the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and po ...

made by the Muisca. When conquistador

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory nam ...

arrived in Suesca in March 1537, he founded the modern town. In Suesca he sentenced a soldier of his army to death for stealing mantles from the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan l ...

.Suesca en la cuerda
- El Tiempo After submitting the ''hoa'' of Hunza, Eucaneme, the Muisca ruler was taken prisoner to Suesca in an attempt to get him to reveal the location of his treasures. When the '' psihipqua'' of Muyquytá,

, heard about the Spanish presence in Suesca, he sent a spy to the town to gain information about their strength. The Muisca, unfamiliar with horses and horseback riders, thought that the horse and the rider were one. When a horse died in Suesca, they found out this was not the case. In 1602, in a cave in Suesca, 150 Muisca mummies were discovered. The mummies were organised in a circle around the mummy of the ''cacique'' of the town. Rock art has also been found in Suesca. The

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

s of Suesca are among the most extensive of Cundinamarca, but at the same time the most vandalised.

Tourism

* Handicrafts - Wool clothes * Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario * Lake Suesca - a natural lake that is located at above sea level. It is found from Suesca town. * Suesca Monoliths - wind erosion of the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

has produced natural

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often ma ...

sSuesca monoliths
/ref> * Rocas de Suesca - natural cliffs approximately long that are located before arriving in Suesca town. A beautiful landscape, the rocks are ideal for people who love trekking and climbing, with many guided tours taking place at the cliffs. The rocks of Suesca are considered the birthplace of Colombian rock climbing, and feature over 400 routes on excellent quality sandstone up to several pitches in length, with a majority of routes being one pitch. The area is best known for traditional climbing, but there are many sport (bolted) routes as well. The

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the western limits of Bogotá. Th ...

flows along the Rocas de Suesca. To get to the cliffs, one walks from the town along the train tracks for about 10 minutes. The train only runs very early in the morning, so there is little danger. Camping is available very close to cliffs or there is reasonably priced lodging close to Rocas de Suesca. * Getting to Suesca: by car or bus: ** By car from Bogotá, one should take Autopista Norte that goes to

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department ...

, passing a toll bridge in Autopista Norte; then one will pass Briceño, the town of

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 ...

and a second toll bridge; then you will find yourself on the main road to Tunja, where you will reach a crossroads: right leads to Sesquilé and left to Suesca. Suesca is approximately from the main road. It is about from Bogotá to Suesca, or around an hour and a half travel time.Wills et al., 2001, Ch.43 - Rocas de Suesca - paraíso de escaladores, p.162 ** Rocas de Suesca - natural cliffs approximately ☃☃ long that are located ☃☃ before arriving to Suesca town. A beautiful landscape, the rocks are ideal for people who love trekking and climbing, with many guided tours taking place at the cliffs. The rocks of Suesca are considered the birthplace of Colombian rock climbing, and feature over 400 routes☃☃ on excellent quality sandstone up to several pitches in length, with a majority of routes being one pitch. The area is best known for traditional climbing, but there are many sport (bolted) routes as well. The

flows along the Rocas de Suesca.

Gallery

File:Suesca monumento.JPG, Statue on the central square File:Suesca.jpg, Nuestra Señora Del Rosario Church, Suesca File:RocasDeSuesca.JPG, Train track to Rocas de Suesca File:Rocas de Suesca.JPG, Rocas de Suesca File:VirgenRocasDeSuesca.JPG, Statue of the Virgin Mary in Rocas de Suesca File:Suesca Cundinamarca.jpg, Farmfields in Suesca File:Laguna de suesca 02.JPG, Lake Suesca

References

Bibliography

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External links

Climbing in Suesca
*
Rocas de Suesca
- Colparques {{Muisca topics, state=collapsed Tourist attractions in Cundinamarca Department Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1537 1537 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1537 disestablishments in the Muisca Confederation Muysccubun Climbing areas of Colombia