Bosa is the 7th locality of the Capital District of the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n capital,

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. Bosa is located in the southwest of Bogotá and is the 8th largest locality and 9th most populated. This district is inhabited by lower class residents.

Etymology

The name of Bosa in Muysccubun means "enclosure of the one that guards and defends the cornfields".Etymology localities of Bogotá
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Geography

Bosa limits to the north with the Tunjuelo River and the Camino de Osorio neighborhood of the locality Kennedy. To the south Bosa borders the Autopista Sur separating it from the localitity of

Ciudad Bolívar Ciudad Bolívar (; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about ...

and the

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 ...

Soacha , image_map = Colombia - Cundinamarca - Soacha.svg , map_caption = Location of Soacha in Cundinamarca , pushpin_map = Colombia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_nam ...

in Cundinamarca. To the east, Bosa borders the Tunjuelo River and the locality of Kennedy and to the west the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the western limits of Bogotá. The ...

and the municipalities of Soacha and

Mosquera Mosquera is a Spanish surname (first name) originally from Galicia (Spain). The family crest states (Spanish) Gallego. It derives from the mansion of the family's founder, Ramiro de Mosquera. In the fifth century, it was already linked to ''Moscos ...

. Besides being crossed by the Tunjuelo and Bogotá River, Bosa also has numerous creeks and streams which include the Quebrada Limas, Quebrada Trompeta, La Estrella, El Infierno, Quiba, Calderón, Bebedero and Aguas Calientes.

History

Bosa was once the site of an important

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 ...

village. During the

Pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...

, the area was governed by ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

s'' as part of the Muisca Confederation, among them and at the moment of 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 ...

arrival; the ''cacique'' Techovita. Early in 1538, Bosa witnessed one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of the

. The last ''

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 ...

'', Sagipa (also called Saquesazipa among other names), was hung by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada when his subjects failed to fill up a room with the amount of gold the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

s asked as ransom for his freedom. At the same time, Cuxinimpaba and Cuxinimegua, or Cuxininegua, the legitimate heirs to the throne of

Tisquesusa Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...

, the last independent Muisca ruler who had been assassinated in

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the department of Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the urban centre at an altit ...

in 1537 by Jiménez de Quesada's soldiers, were hanged. This way the conquistador put an end to the lineage of the

Muisca rulers 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 ...

. In 1538, Bosa became a meeting place for Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada,

Nikolaus Federmann Nikolaus Federmann ( es, link=no, Nicolás Féderman, ) (c. 1505, Ulm – February 1542, Valladolid) was a German adventurer and conquistador in what is modern-day Venezuela and Colombia. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Vened ...

and

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...

during the Spanish conquest of the Muisca. The exact location of their encounter was marked with a stone cross, today located on the east side of Bosa's main square. The 4th article of the June 22, 1850 Law dissolved the resguardo for

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, in an effort to drive them away from the villages. These process ended in 1886. On November 22, 1853, a battle took place in Bosa between the forces of

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Tomás Cipriano Ignacio María de Mosquera-Figueroa y Arboleda-Salazar (September 26, 1798 – October 7, 1878) was a Colombian general, political figure. He was president of Colombia four times. The first time was as president of Republic of N ...

José Hilario López José Hilario López Valdés (18 February 1798, Popayán, Cauca – 27 November 1869, Campoalegre, Huila) was a Colombian politician and military officer. He was the President of Colombia between 1849 and 1853.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; ...

and

Pedro Alcántara Herrán Pedro Alcántara Herrán Martínez de Zaldúa (October 19, 1800 in Bogotá, Viceroyalty of the New GranadaArismendi Posada, Ignacio; ''Gobernantes Colombianos''; trans. Colombian Presidents; Interprint Editors Ltd., Italgraf, Segunda Edición; ...

against the forces of Dictator Jose Maria Melo, this became known as the

Battle of Bosa A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Until the mid 20th century, Bosa was a relatively small municipality formed by five neighborhoods and a population less than 20,000 people. The people dedicated to rural agricultural activities. By 1954, the government of

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas Pinilla gained prominence as a colonel during L ...

annexed Bosa to the Special District of Bogotá, which triggered a demographic expansion. Bosa then became a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for

. In the

Colombian Constitution of 1991 The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 ( es, Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Thursday, July 4, 1991, and is als ...

, Bogotá was rearranged and became the Capital District in which Bosa formed the 7th locality. In 1992 and 2000, the Cabildos of

Suba Suba may refer to: Groups of people *Suba people (Kenya), a people of Kenya **Suba language *Suba people (Tanzania), a people of Tanzania * Subha (writers), alternatively spelt Suba, Indian writer duo Individual people *Suba (musician), Serbian- ...

and Bosa were officially recognized by the Government of Bogotá as stipulated in Law 89 of 1890. The Cabildo Mayor del Pueblo Muisca was founded on September 22, 2002 in Bosa.

Sites of interest

* San Bernardino Church, the construction of this church began in 1618 and was declared a National Monument by the Colombian government. In front of it a stone cross marks the exact place where the three

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

met. * El Humilladero Hermitage * Francisco de Paula Santander School. It is a school located in next to the Town hall of Bosa, is recognized as the first school of Bosa, its creation and inauguration was in 1938 as a rural school, now "La Casona" is a cultural heritage being a structure on the verge of collapse, but it is composed of other buildings where classes are taught for all grades. Currently has the classroom RTC (Reinvent The Classroom), which is a classroom of education 3.0, first classroom in Colombia and Latin America.Reinvent The Classroom-View 360°

Neighborhoods and veredas

Neighborhoods

* Among the most important neighborhoods are : La Libertad, Palestina, Bosa Brasil, Bosa La Independencia, Piamonte, Jiménez De Quesada, Despensa, Laureles, La Estación, La Azucena, La Amistad, El Motorista, Antonia Santos, Naranjos, Olarte, El Corzo and downtown Bosa.

Veredas

The San Bernardino vereda is inhabited by direct descendants of the

who used as last name the name of the tribe, such as Neuta, Chiguasque, Tunjo, Orobajo and Fitatá.

Transport

Locally, Bosa has very few access points due to the presence of large

slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

which do not have paved roads besides Avenida Bosa. Public transportation from other parts of Bogotá arrives through the Avenida Ciudad de Cali and the

Avenida Primero de Mayo Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, L ...

and the Diagonal 86. Bosa is served by two main

TransMilenio TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha. The system opened to the public in December 2000, covering Caracas Avenue and 80 street. Other lines were added gradually over the next s ...

stations;

Portal del Sur Portal del Sur is one of the terminus stations of the TransMilenio mass-transit system of Bogotá, Colombia, which opened in the year 2000. Location The Portal del Sur is located in the south of the city, more specifically on Autopista Sur wh ...

(line G) and Portal de Las Américas (line F) and their support routes.

References

External links

National University of Colombia; Bosa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosa, Bogota Localities of Bogotá Altiplano Cundiboyacense Muisca Confederation Muysccubun