Turmequé is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the

Márquez Province The Márquez Province is a province of Boyacá Department, Colombia. The province is formed by 10 municipalities. Municipalities Boyacá • Ciénaga • Jenesano • Nuevo Colón • Ramiriquí Ramiriquí is a town and municipality in t ...

. Turmequé is located at northeast from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders

Ventaquemada Ventaquemada is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Ventaquemada is located at a distance of from the capital Bogotá and from the departmental capital Tunja. The urban centre is ...

in the west, in the east

Úmbita Úmbita is a town and municipality in the Márquez Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Úmbita is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from department capital Tunja and borders Nuevo Colón and Tibaná ...

, in the north Nuevo Colón and in the south the municipality

Villapinzón Villapinzón is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is situated at an elevation of on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. ...

of the department of Cundinamarca. Official website Turmequé
- accessed 03-05-2016

History

Turmequé was an important center for 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 ...

who inhabited 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 ...

before the arrival of 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 ...

led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, who founded modern Turmequé on July 20th, 1537 in his search for '' El Dorado''. Turmequé was part of the Muisca Confederation led by the ''

zaque 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

Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...

, present-day department capital Tunja. The name of the village is

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 ...

and means "vigorous chief".Etymology Turmequé
- accessed 03-05-2016 Another name for the town is ''Valle de las trompetas'' ("Trumpet Valley") because of the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s the Spanish conquistadores were bringing with them. Turmequé has given its name to the Colombian national game of

tejo Tejo may refer to: *Tagus (Portuguese: ''Tejo''), a river on the Iberian Peninsula. * Tejo (sport), a sport and national pastime of Colombia. * Tejo (Argentina), a sport and national pastime of Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argen ...

, previously called Turmequé. In the village center a statue honouring the Muisca sports god Chaquén still remembers this. Before the municipality was split, it used to be extensive in area. In 1773

(then called Hato Viejo) became a separate unity and in 1776

was separated from Turmequé.

Economy

The town center is for the most part focused on commerce and services while the rural area has

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

;

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es, beans,

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. The ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

and fruits such as

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica''). Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. A prune is the firm-fleshed fruit (plum) of '' Prunus domestica'' varieties that have a high so ...

blackberries The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family (biology), family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus' ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

s and

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s and the typical Colombian fruits

curuba Banana passionfruit (''Passiflora'' supersect. ''Tacsonia''), also known as taxo and curuba, is a group of around 64 ''Passiflora'' species found in South America. Most species in this section are found in high elevation cloud forest habitats. Flo ...

and feijoa.

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 animal ...

farming consists of mainly

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

Tourism

Being the birthplace of tejo, Turmequé has considerable amount of tourism. Each year the national championships of tejo are held here. The town also has a religious museum.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turmeque Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1537 1537 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1537 disestablishments in the Muisca Confederation Muysccubun

History

Economy

Tourism

Gallery

See also

References