Tenjo 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 Zipaqu ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of on 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 Range ...

. Tenjo is part of the

Metropolitan Area of Bogotá Metropolitan Area of Bogotá is the metropolitan area of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá, usually used for statistical analysis or technical use. It is not a formal administrative division and its limits are therefore not defined. The st ...

and borders Chía,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Tabio Tabio is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. It is located at from Bogotá. The town was officially founded April 8, 1603, by Diego Gómez de Mena, on grounds that were the property of the native Muisca who in ...

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the department of Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the urban centre at an altit ...

Subachoque Subachoque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality is situated on the Bogotá savanna with the urban centre at an altitude of at a distance of from the c ...

and Cota.Official website Tenjo
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Etymology

Tenjo in

Muisca language Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/), or Muysca de Bogotá, was a language spoken by the Muisca people of the Muisca Confederation, one of the many indigenous cultures of the Americas. The Muisca inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacens ...

literally translates "in the big mouth".

History

The area of Tenjo was inhabited by 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 langu ...

in the times 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 predece ...

. Tenjo was ruled by the ''

zipa When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

'' 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 ...

. Ancient

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

has been discovered in Tenjo. Modern Tenjo was founded on April 8, 1603, by Diego Gómez de Mena. On the 7 of May, 1637, it was decided that the first church of the town was to be built by Alonso Serrano Hernández after being hired by Juan de Vera, Cristóbal Gómez de Silva, Juan de Orejuela and Juan de Artieda. The church was completed on August 17, 1645. By the year of 1778, there was a population of 1,009 people and 211 families, excluding 983 other native people who inhabited Tenjo.

Economy

Tenjo's economy is mainly based on

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and livestock-breeding. Thanks to its relatively close position to

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 ...

, Tenjo is starting to become part of its suburbs and with many schools being established here that have collaborated with this effect.

Sister cities

* : Las Gabias

Born in Tenjo

Crisanto Luque Sánchez Crisanto Luque Sánchez (February 1, 1889 – May 7, 1959) was a Colombian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Bogotá from 1950 to 1959, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Biography ...

(1889–1959),

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Gallery

File:Parque central Tenjo.JPG, Church of Tenjo File:Capilla Doctrinera Tenjo.jpg, Chapel in Tenjo File:EdeficioMunicipaldeTenjo.jpg, City council File:25799 Grutas Tenjo LFAA.jpg, Cave in Tenjo File:BICOLORtenjo.jpg, Rock art in Tenjo

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1603 1603 establishments in the Spanish Empire Muisca Confederation Muysccubun