San Luis, Antioquia
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San Luis is a
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in Colombia, located in the department of Antioquia. It is limited in the north by the municipalities of San Carlos and Puerto Nare, in the east by the municipality of Puerto Triunfo, in the south by the municipality of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and in the west by the municipalities of
Cocorná Cocorná is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. The population was 14,743 at the 2018 census. It is part of the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. Geography Cocorná has an extension of 210 km², with a mount ...
and Granada. The average temperature in San Luis is 28 Celsius or about 82
Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined hi ...
. The municipality is located from the city of Medellín, the capital of the department, and the municipality has an area of . The population was 7,155 at the 2018 census.


Initial settlement

Compared to other cities and municipalities in Antioquia, San Luis has a relatively short history. Migration to the region began in 1875 and continued throughout the late 19th century, driven by economic hardship in the region and a spirit of entrepreneurship and colonial expansion that was dominant during that time. The founder of San Luis is widely considered to be Clemente Giraldo, a
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
priest who sought to create a trading outpost between the cities of Granada and the Río Magdalena. Upon arriving in the region from Granada with several families, Giraldo reached a large stone cliff, named "el Castellón" in Spanish, on August 25, 1876, ow considered the official founding date of the municipality. Having found a defensible site in the mountains with plenty of forestry and available wood, Giraldo decided that this would be a very suitable site for the outpost. The settlers tested the fertility of the soil by planting banana trees, beans,
sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
, and
yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...
and, after a successful harvest, returned to Granada to deliver news regarding the new settlement. Once news of the successful settlement spread, additional settlers arrived from the nearby towns of El Peñol,
Marinilla Marinilla is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. It is part of the subregion of Eastern Antioquia Eastern Antioquia ( es, Oriente Antioqueño) is subregion of the Colombian Department of Antioquia. The region c ...
, and El Santuario. By 1878, the town had constructed its first church, a central park and was integrated as a segment of the municipality of San Carlos.


Effects of the Colombian conflict

Since the 1960s, San Luis suffered a great deal during the
Colombian Conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...
, especially between 1994 and 2004. The city was frequently targeted by various terrorist and paramilitary organizations, including the
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...
, ELN, and Frente IX and was subject to kidnappings, murders, and forced displacements. In 1997 alone there were 255 disappearances, 75 murders, 305 kidnappings and 51,513 displaced persons. By 1999, San Luis was an active war zone and many families fled to other parts of the country. The period between 1999 and 2003 included several direct attacks on police and soldiers in the municipality. On December 12, 1999, 300 members of the
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...
from the 9th and 47th fronts attacked the city's police station killing 9 policemen and wounding 4. One of the dead was Irma Rosa Gutiérrez, who was 6 months pregnant. On October 9, 2002, the
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...
strapped bombs to an 11-year-old boy and sent him into the police station in the city's central park. The explosive was detected before it could be exploded.


Post-conflict history

San Luis has flourished since 2006, both economically and culturally.
Argos S.A. Grupo Argos S.A is a Colombian conglomerate with large investments in the cement and energy industries. Its cement company Argos has operations in Colombia, the United States, Panamá, Honduras and the Caribbean. Celsia, its energy company, owns ...
, Colombia's largest producer of cement, first set up operations in San Luis in 1985, but significantly expanded those operations in 2006, employing more than 500 people and investing more than $700 million US dollars. Since 2015, the city has seen accelerated construction including a new, ongoing investment named Porvenir II, creating a dam, a
hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...
plant, and a lake that is expected to attract even more tourism.


Demography

* 'Total' Population: 10 939 hab. (2015) * 'Urban' Population: 4694 * 'Rural' Population: 6245


Economy

The
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
of San Luis is agriculture based, which is heavily based upon fruits, vegetables, livestock, and an emphasis is placed on harvesting and on the exportation of wood. The city's exportation of wood is celebrated the last weekend of June each year in the "Fiestas de la Madera" (Festival of the Wood).


Ecotourism

San Luis is still emerging as a tourist destination, and the tourism industry is focused upon eco-friendly tourism. The municipality has several interesting tourism destinations that are utilized both by visitors and locals alike. * Cascada la Cuba (
Waterfall 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 severa ...
The Cuba), is located at the side of the road that leads into the city, about 1.6 km from the Medellin-Bogota highway. The waterfall has a drop of more than 100m and is visited for its clean and clear water and natural environment. * Cascada La Planta (
Waterfall 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 severa ...
The Plant). This second waterfall requires the traveler to walk down a steep and narrow stone path. The waterfall is 30m contains a 15m x 10m body of water at the bottom in which visitors can swim. There is also an unsupervised diving platform to dive into the water below. * El Dormilón (River Dormilón). The banks of the river are often used for picnics and the currents are such that one can swim in the river without much danger. * Iglesia de San Luis Gonzaga (Church of San Luis Gonzaga). This is the church in the central park. It was built in 1884.


External links


Official Page of San Luis

Map of the Municipality of San Luis


References

{{reflist Municipalities of Antioquia Department Populated places established in 1876 1876 establishments in Colombia