The Tequendama Falls () is a high waterfall of 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. The ...

, located southwest of

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 ...

in the municipality of

Soacha , image_map = Colombia - Cundinamarca - Soacha.svg , map_caption = Location of Soacha in Cundinamarca , pushpin_map = Colombia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_nam ...

. Established in approximately 10,000 BCE,

El Abra El Abra is the name given to an extensive archeological site, located in the valley of the same name. El Abra is situated in the east of the municipality Zipaquirá extending to the westernmost part of Tocancipá in the department of Cundinamar ...

and

Tequendama Tequendama is a preceramic and ceramic archaeological site located southeast of Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia, a couple of kilometers east of Tequendama Falls. It consists of multiple evidences of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene populati ...

were the first permanent settlements in

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 ...

. One of the country's tourist attractions, the falls are located in a forested area west of Bogotá. The river surges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about at the brink of the high falls. During the month of December the falls become completely dry. The falls, once a common site for suicides, may be reached by road from Bogotá.

Muisca origin

The name ''Tequendama'' means in

Chibcha 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 lan ...

: "he who precipitated downward". According to 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 ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, the waterfall was created by the legendary hero

Bochica Bochica (also alluded to as Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the central Andean highlands of present-day Co ...

, who used his staff to break the rock and release the water that covered 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 ...

. According to another legend, during the Spanish conquest and evangelization of the Americas, in order to escape the new colonial order indigenous people of the area would jump off the ''Salto Del Tequendama'' and become eagles to fly to their freedom.

Recovery of the Falls and its surroundings

The river that feeds the falls is currently considered to be one of the most contaminated in the world.

"The Tequendama Falls has the dubious honour of being the largest wastewater falls in the world. Liquid wastes from the city are flushed untreated into the Bogotá River at the lower edge of the sabana, a few kilometres upstream of the Tequendama Falls. Downstream from Bogotá, the river is filled with sewage."

A historic hotel building, now a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

that overlooks the waterfall is undergoing restoration aided by the French government.Casona del Tequendama recibe apoyo de Francia
- El Tiempo

References

Bibliography

External links

*
El gran salto del Tequendama
-

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editio ...

The Haunted Hotel at Tequendama Falls
Waterfalls of Colombia Geography of Cundinamarca Department Tourist attractions in Cundinamarca Department Muisca and pre-Muisca sites

Waterfalls A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

{{Cundinamarca-geo-stub

Muisca origin

Recovery of the Falls and its surroundings

See also

References

Bibliography

External links