Choachí is a municipality and town of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

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 capital

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

. The town centre is located at from the centre of the capital.Official website - information Choachí
- accessed 29-04-2016 Within the boundaries of Choachí the Páramo de Cruz Verde is situated.

Etymology

The name Choachí is derived from the original name in

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

: ''Chi-gua-chí'', which means "Our Mountain of the Moon". The

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

had a strong lunar cult and worshipped the goddess of the Moon, Chía in various places across their territories. It is believed that in Choachí a place of worship to the Moon was located.

Geography

Choachí is home to the tallest waterfall in Colombia, La Chorrera, which has a height of 590 m (~1940 ft).

History

The area of Choachí was inhabited by the southern

, part of the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

ruled by the ''

zipa When the Spain, 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 Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

'' of Bacatá. The modern foundation of the town was early in the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

, in 1560, by Antonio Bermúdez, a

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

who arrived as part of the army of

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...

. In 1601 a parish was constructed in Choachí. Between the 17th and 19th century the original indigenous population almost completely perished.

Economy

Main economical activities in Choachí are agriculture,

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

farming. Also tourism, mainly from the capital, is a source of income for the local people.

Geology

In the area of Choachí

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s and the organic-rich

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

s of the Fómeque Formation are

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

ping.

Archeology

In the first half of the 20th century within Choachí the Choachí Stone has been found, possibly in a grave. The stone, carved in lydite may represent the

Muisca calendar The Muisca calendar was a lunisolar calendar, lunisolar calendar used by the Muisca people, Muisca. The calendar was composed of a complex combination of months and three types of years were used; rural years (according to Pedro Simón, Chibcha la ...

, a complex

lunisolar calendar A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year. As with all calendars which divide the year into months, there is an additional requirement that the year have a whole number of mont ...

used by the Muisca. Also

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s have been discovered in Choachí.

Climate

Gallery

File:Cara del indio.png, ''Cara del indio'', rock shaped as the face of an Indian File:Choachí waterfall - Highest of Colombia (590m) (4925103331).jpg, Highest waterfall of Colombia File:Choachí-Cundinamarca.JPG, Rural part of Choachí File:Cows in the Fog (7722843860).jpg, Cows in the fog File:The Store (7627837960).jpg, Store in Choachí Road to Choachi, Colombia (7654907444).jpg, Road to Choachí File:Carboneros de Choachí.jpg, ''Charcoal burners of Choachí'' in 1850 by Ramón Torres Méndez. File:Iglesia Choachi, Cundinamarca - panoramio.jpg, Church of San Miguel in Choachí

Trivia

* A number of episodes of the popular series ''

Escobar, el patrón del mal ''Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'' (international title: ''Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord''; also known as ''Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal'') is a 2012 Colombian biographical TV series produced and broadcast on Caracol TV, based on a true story a ...

'' were filmed in Choachí * The highest

waterfall A waterfall is any 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 seve ...

of Colombia with is located in Choachí

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Petroglyhs discovered in Choachí
- accessed 29-04-2016 {{Authority control Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1560 1560 establishments in the Spanish Empire