Chiquinquirá is a town and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. Located some 115 km north of Bogotá, Chiquinquirá is above sea level and has a yearly average temperature

Etymology

The name Chiquinquirá comes from Chibcha language, Chibcha and means "Place of swamps covered with fog".Etymology Chiquinquirá
- Excelsio.net

Geography and religion

Chiquinquirá is constituted by two zones: the urban zone or town which is formed by approximately 40 neighbourhoods between the strata 1 and 4, and the rural zone which is divided in 17 sub zones located around the city. It is home to the Basílica de Chiquinquirá, which houses the image of the Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá, Virgen de Chiquinquirá, the patroness saint of Colombia. Chiquinquirá is a major point of religious pilgrimage (source: Colombia Lonely Planet Guide, 2nd Edition, 1995).

History

The area of Chiquinquirá used to be inhabited by the Muisca people, Muisca before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, Spanish conquest and Chiquinquirá was an important place in the Chiquinquirá Valley. It was ruled by an independent ''cacique'' within the Muisca Confederation. It was never properly founded as a municipality.Official website Chiquinquirá
/ref> In November, 1967, 81 people in Chiquinquirá, most of them children, were fatally poisoned and hundreds more became seriously ill after eating bread that had been made with flour that had been contaminated with a powdered insecticide. Murder charges would later be filed against a Bogotá truck driver who had delivered the flour and the owner of the bakery that had baked and sold the bread to local residents."Colombia Files Murder Charges in Poison Deaths", ''Star Tribune'' (Minneapolis, MN), December 10, 1967, p26B

Geology

The Chiquinquirá Sandstone is named after the town.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiquinquira Municipalities of Boyacá Department Muisca Confederation Muysccubun