Pamplona (pronounced ) is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
and city in
Norte de Santander
Norte de Santander (Spanish for Northern Santander) () is a department of northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.
Norte de Santander is bordere ...
,
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 ...
. It is the fifth most populated city and the sixth most populated municipality in the
department.
History
Colonization
The town was founded on 1 November 1549 as Nueva Pamplona del Valle del Espíritu Santo, named after
the capital of the Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre ( ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), between present-day Spain and France.
The me ...
,
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...
, by
Pedro de Ursúa
Pedro de Ursúa (1526 –January 1, 1561) was a Spanish list of conquistadors in Colombia, conquistador from Baztan (municipality), Baztan in Navarre. He is best known for his final trip with Lope de Aguirre in search for El Dorado, where he w ...
and Ortún Velasco de Velázquez. From there, the expeditions departed which founded the towns of Mérida, San Cristóbal and La Grita, in the Republic of Venezuela, and Ocaña, Salazar de las Palmas, Chinácota,
San Faustino,
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander Department, Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and is the ninth most populous city i ...
and
Cúcuta
Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the East ...
in Colombia, among others.
The natives, called by the Spanish, were the first inhabitants of the old
Province of Pamplona. They received the name because of the men had a custom of carrying a or (gourd) hanging from the waist, with ''
chicha
''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...
'' or maize wine as the Spaniards called it. Asked for the name of what they were carrying, the natives responded that it was a .
When the area was occupied by Pedro de Ursúa and Ortún Velasco in 1549, they reduced the primitive settlers to the regime of . Around 100 groups or were distributed among 53 ' throughout the territory, according to researcher Jaramillo Uribe.
The town's location allowed it to become an important commercial route between the Viceroyalty of
New Granada and the Captaincy of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
; with highly fertile regions and
auriferous deposits in the mountains, it became one of the richest territories of the colony, rivaled only by the province of Socorro, which contributed to it being considered a political and administrative axis of the Spanish crown from the time of the conquest.
Independence
Pamplona earned the nickname of "Patriotic City" as described by
Simón Bolivar for having pioneered the New Granadan revolution by proclaiming its independence on 4 July 1810, led by Doña (freedom that was finally declared 31 July of the same year with a provisional assembly), and later, between 1819 and 1821, for having contributed notably with human and economic resources for the liberation of Colombia and Venezuela. Pamplona was as important as Bogotá.
In 1910, with the creation of the
Department of Norte de Santander, it was included within its political jurisdiction, becoming part of the province of Pamplona, which is in turn made up of the municipalities of
Cácota de Velasco,
Cucutilla,
Chitagá,
Labateca,
Mutiscua,
Pamplonita
Pamplonita is a Colombian municipality and town located in the department of North Santander.
References
*Government of Norte de Santander - Pamplonita*Pamplonita official website
Municipalities of the Norte de Santander Department
...
,
Toledo and
Silos. Culturally there are a number of national and international activities making the city a tourist epicenter, including Holy Week, along with the celebrations held in
Mompox and
Popayán
Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
, which are the most important in the country.
The city of Pamplona is in the southwest of the department, along with the municipalities of Pamplonita, Chitagá, Silos, Cácota and Mutiscua. Its historic center stands out in the urban area (declared as a Monument of National Interest according to Decree 264 of 1963), which has long been the main educational center of eastern Colombia and
Táchira
Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal.
Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...
and
Mérida in Venezuela. The solemnity of religious celebrations is also notable – events that attract a large number of people from other parts of the country and Táchira, Venezuela.
Climate
On average, temperature highs range from to and lows range from to .
Economy
One of the main agricultural products of Pamplona is the potato, followed by the production of other vegetables and fruits such as strawberries, garlic, carrots, wheat, , beans and corn.
During 2014, Pamplona became the municipality that produced the most peas in the department. The main sources of livestock production in the municipality are poultry, cattle and swine.
The province of Pamplona is one of the largest food production areas in the department, it also produces dairy products, especially cheese, the main cheeses marketed in the area are
Cuajada
Cuajada ( milk curd) is a dairy product traditionally made from sheep's milk, but now it is more often made industrially from cow's milk. It is popular in the northern regions of Spain (Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon, Casti ...
, in addition to Queso Campesino () and Queso de Hoja (). Eighty-five percent of the city's establishments are engaged in commerce.
Pamplona is a
student city, hosting the
University of Pamplona. That and tourism are probably the main present economic activities, where thousands of students are lodged and fed and are thus the main consumers in nightclubs and cafés.
Heritage sites
Churches
According to historian Silvano Pabón Villamizar, the construction of religious buildings in Pamplona began at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. The was built in 1584 by Magdalena Velazco, the daughter of the founder of Pamplona.
The cathedral contains one of the most important musical instruments of Eastern Colombia, a pipe organ created by Celestino Balbiani from Milan, Italy, in addition to a
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
-style altarpiece.
In 1990, architect Jaime Salcedo was awarded the Carlos Arbelaéz Camacho National Restoration Prize for the restoration of the Caterdal at the 12th Biennial of Architecture in Colombia.
One of the most visited places in Pamplona during Holy Week is the Humilladero Sanctuary. It is an example of colonial architecture, featuring a preserved wood carving of Jesus Christ along with
Gestas and
Dismas. The sanctuary has existed since the foundation of Pamplona.
Museums
Pamplona houses several museums of the department such as the Águeda Gallardo de Villamizar House, built around 1644 after an earthquake. In the house lived , one of the women who played a role in the independence of Colombia. According to the historians Luis Eduardo Paez Courvel and Luis Febres Cordero, the house was the site for gatherings (Spanish: ) on the process of independence for the country.
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
*
Pamplona
Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain.
Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...
(Navarre), Spain
References
External links
Official Website of the Pamplona Mayor's Office(in Spanish)
Ramirez Villamizar Modern Art Museum Website(in Spanish)
{{Authority control
Municipalities of the Norte de Santander Department
Populated places established in 1549
1549 establishments in the Spanish Empire