Ráquira, is a municipality and town in

Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...

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 ...

, part of the subregion of the

Ricaurte Province The Ricaurte Province is a province of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The province, named after independence hero Antonio Ricaurte, is formed by 13 municipalities. Municipalities * Arcabuco * Chitaraque * Gachantivá * Moniquirá * R ...

. Ráquira is situated on 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. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

and the urban center at an altitude of . It borders

Tinjacá Tinjacá is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. Tinjacá is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. It borders Sutamarchán ...

and

Sutamarchán Sutamarchán is a town and municipality in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Departments of Colombia, department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá of Colombia. Sutamarchán is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the department capital ...

in the north,

Guachetá Guachetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Guachetá is located at from the capital Bogotá. It borders the Boyacá Department, Boya ...

, Cundinamarca in the south, in the east

Sáchica Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira in ...

and

Samacá Samacá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in N ...

and in the west

San Miguel de Sema San Miguel de Sema is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. It is one of the 123 municipalities of the department of Boyacá, Colombia, located to the west of the departme ...

and

Lake Fúquene Lake Fúquene is a heart-shaped lake located in the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, in the north of Cundinamarca, Colombia, at the border with Boyacá. The Andean lake, at an average altitude of , was considere ...

.Official website Ráquira
/ref>

Etymology

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 ...

, Ráquira means "Village of the pans".Etymology Ráquira
- Excelsio.net

History

The area of Ráquira was inhabited by 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 ...

in the centuries before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

of the central highlands of the Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. Already in those times Ráquira was famous for its

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

due to the clay of the area. In March 1537

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 ...

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 ...

crossed the valley around Ráquira. Modern Ráquira was founded on October 18, 1580 by

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

Francisco de Orejuela.

Economy

About three quarters of the economy of Ráquira is centered on the handcrafts. Other economical activities are

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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 and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

Tourism

Ráquira is famous in Colombia for its colony of artisans, who produce traditional northern Andean pottery & hand-woven goods. The Sunday market is especially a popular time to visit. Ráquira is also known for its colorful houses that contrast with the famous nearby town of

Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNE ...

.Crafts in Ráquira
/ref>

Gallery

File:Ráquira Boyacá parque.JPG, Central square and church Ráquira File:Iglesia Raquira.JPG, Church File:Church in Raquira, Colombia.jpg, Church File:27 Interior iglesia de Ráquira Boyacá.JPG, Church interior File:Venta de artesnias en raquira, 2006.JPG,

Arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

in Ráquira File:Raquira artesanias.JPG, Crafts File:Ráquira figura barro.JPG, Clay sculpture File:26 trabajo en cerámica artesanal en Ráquira Boyacá.JPG, Ceramic sculpture File:Raquira rural.JPG, Rural area of Ráquira File:Granja Ráquira.JPG, Farm in rural area File:Carretera rural Raquira.JPG, Road in rural area File:Río ráquira.JPG, Ráquira River

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raquira Municipalities of Boyacá Department Villages in Colombia Populated places established in 1580 1580 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places of the Muisca Confederation