La Calera is a municipality and town of Colombia in the

Guavio Province The Guavio Province ( es, Provincia del Guavio) is one of the 15 provinces in the Cundinamarca department, Colombia. Guavio borders the Capital District of Bogotá and the Central Savanna Province to the west, to the north the Almeidas Province, t ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca. La Calera is a common weekend destination, mainly for the many restaurants, as it is approximately over land from Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. La Calera is located in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, east of the capital and overlooking part of it. La Calera borders

Guasca Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guas ...

Sopó Sopó is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town is located 39 km north of the Colombian capital Bogotá. History The area of Sopó was inhabited first by indigenous groups during the Herrera Per ...

and Chía in the north, Guasca and Junín in the east, Bogotá in the west and

Choachí Choachí is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality borders La Calera in the north, Ubaque in the south, in the east Fómeque and westward of Choachí is the Colombian cap ...

and

Fómeque Fómeque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department {{Cundinamarca-geo-stub ...

in the south.Official website La Calera

Etymology

The name of the town is derived from the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

mine, called ''calera''.

History

The area of La Calera was 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 ...

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 ...

. La Calera, just behind the mountains bordering Bacatá 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 the southern capital. Modern La Calera was founded on December 16, 1772 by Pedro de Tovar y Buendía.

Economy

Main economical activity in La Calera is cement mining. The geological formation outcropping in the municipality is the

Guaduas Formation The Guaduas Formation ( es, Formación Guaduas, K2P1G, K2E1G, KPgg, KTg, TKg, Ktg) is a geological formation of the Middle Magdalena Basin and the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The predominantly shale with coa ...

Born in La Calera

Israel Corredor Israel Corredor (born 25 July 1959) is a Colombian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in three editions of the Tour de France and two editions of the Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-sta ...

, former professional cyclist

Gallery

Ruta Nacional 50, La Calera, Cundinamarca, Colombia

Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, La Calera

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Muisca Confederation Populated places established in 1772 1770s establishments in the Viceroyalty of New Granada 1772 establishments in South America