Santa Fe de Antioquia 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 the Antioquia Department, Colombia. The city is located approximately north of Medellín, the department capital. It has a population of approximately 23,000 inhabitants.

History

Founded in 1541 by Jorge Robledo as ''Villa de Santafé'' on the western bank of the

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and ...

, in 1545 it received the coat of arms and the title of ''City of Antioquia'' from King Philip II of Spain. It was elevated to the status of parish in 1547 by the bishop of

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...

. It changed its name in 1584 when it became the capital of Antioquia. It was a mining town from its beginnings and the gold mining operation has been the base of its economy. Its cathedral was constructed in 1799 and elevated to the Diocese of Antioquia in 1804 by Pope Pius VII. In 1813 Antioquia was declared a sovereign and independent state with Santa Fe as its capital, a status it maintained until 1826, when Medellín was chosen as the new departmental seat. Due to the state of conservation of its colonial architecture, it was declared a national monument in 1960.

Geography

The municipal area is , with a mountainous territory within the Central Cordillera of the Andes and watered by both the Cauca and the Tonusco Rivers.

Climate

The climate of Santa Fe de Antioquia is

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and humid, typical of Colombia's Cauca River valley, due to its low altitude and its geographical location near the equator. The average temperature is throughout the year. This pleasant weather has allowed tourism to develop in the city, which has been filled with hostels, hotels and water parks frequented by people from Medellín and the near metropolitan area.

Economy

The economy of Santa Fe de Antioquia is based on agriculture: the main products are

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

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 ...

and

beans A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

Tourism

Tourism has been, and continues to be one of the more important economic enterprises for the municipality. The opening of the Tunnel of the West (which reduces the time and the distance between the locality and Medellín) in 2006 has allowed hundreds of tourists to arrive each weekend, stimulating the vocation of the vicinity as a summer vacation site. In 2017 a modernization project began on its main Plaza which was completed in 2018. The project closed traffic to cars and added gardens with the help of Botanical Garden of Medellín. Santa Fe was named a '' Pueblo Patrimonio'' (heritage town) of Colombia in 2010. It was the only municipality in Antioquia selected to be part of the ''Red Turística de Pueblos Patrimonio'' original cohort.

Sites of Interest

All of the town is a historical site; the architecture that has survived through the years gives Santa Fe de Antioquia the aspect of a city "suspended" in the colonial era, which is the reason the city was declared National monument. * Puente de Occidente (Bridge of the West, a National Monument); suspension bridge built in 1887, same year as the Eiffel Tower, over the Cauca River. *Metropolitan Cathedral *Archiepiscopal Palace *Plaza Mayor Juan de Corral *Museum of Religious Art *The House of the Two Palms *La Playita (Famous Ranch To The South of the Plaza) *Tonusco Campestre

References

External links

City of Santa Fe de Antioquia official government website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Antioquia Department Populated places established in 1541 1541 establishments in the Spanish Empire