Somondoco is a town and municipality in the
Colombian
Department of
Boyacá. This town and larger municipal area are located in the
Valle de Tenza. The Valle de Tenza is the ancient route connecting 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 ...
and the
Llanos. The area is dotted with many such little towns all located at approximately the same altitude (1500–1700 meters). Somondoco borders
Almeida in the east,
Guayatá in the west,
Guateque and
Sutatenza in the north and in the south the
Cundinamarca municipality of
Ubalá
Ubalá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. It is located in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. It is the only municipality of Cundinamarca that is split in two parts.
Climate
Etymology
In the C ...
.
[Official website Somondoco]
/ref>
The nearest larger town is Guateque which is about 30 minutes away by car. In Somondoco are several small companies producing handicrafts and collectables.
Etymology
Somondoco is derived from the 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 ...
words ''So'' = stone, ''Mon'' = bath, ''Co'' = support. The village is named after ''cacique Somendoco'' or ''Sumindoco''.[Etymology Somondoco]
- Excelsio.net[
]
History
Somondoco is a very old center of population extending back into prehistory. 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 ...
settled here due to the abundance of emeralds mined in the 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 ...
mountains.
When the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
conquistadores led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada arrived, Somondoco was ruled by a '' cacique'' named ''Sumindoco''. He was loyal to 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 ...
'' of 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 ...
.[ The date of foundation of Somondoco is November 6, 1537.][Foundation of Somondoco November 6, 1537]
/ref>
Economy
Main economical activities of Somondoco are emerald mining and 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 ...
; 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 ...
, tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es, 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 ...
, beans, bananas and 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 ...
.[
File:Somodoco desde guateque.JPG, View of Somondoco
]
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
{{coord, 4.98778, N, 73.4361, W, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title
Municipalities of Boyacá Department
1537 establishments in the Spanish Empire
Populated places established in 1537
1537 disestablishments in the Muisca Confederation
Muysccubun
Colombian emeralds