Santa Rosa de Viterbo is a town and

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' ...

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

Tundama Province The Tundama Province is a province of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The province is formed by 9 municipalities. Etymology The province is named after ''cacique'' Tundama Tundama or Saymoso (15th century – late December 1539 in ...

, a subregion of Boyacá. Viterbite, not a mineral but a mixture of

allophane Allophane is an amorphous to poorly crystalline hydrous aluminium silicate clay mineraloid. Its chemical formula is Al2O3·(SiO2)1.3-2·(2.5-3)H2O. Since it has short-range atomic order, it is a mineraloid, rather than a mineral, and can be ident ...

and

wavellite Wavellite is an aluminium basic phosphate mineral with formula aluminium, Al3(phosphorus, Poxygen, O4)2(Ohydrogen, H, fluorine, F)3·5water, H2O. Distinct crystals are rare, and it normally occurs as translucent green radial or spherical clusters ...

, occurs in and was named after this municipality.

History

Santa Rosa de Viterbo was founded by the Spanish in 1689. Three priests petitioned the Archbishop of Santa Fe for resources to found the parish of Santa Rosa de Viterbo. A mayor was appointed in 1690; the first being José de los Reyes.

The "Aerolito"

In the year 1810, a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

fell in Santa Rosa, and it was discovered by a farmer of the town. The mayor decided to place it in the middle of the town, in front of the church. A hundred years later, the president Rafael Reyes decided to take it to Bogotá. There it was divided in two big parts; one of the parts stayed in Bogotá, and the other is currently in a museum in Chicago.

Born in Santa Rosa de Viterbo

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Pos ...

, former president of Colombia * Fernando Soto Aparicio (1933), screenwriter, poet, and novelist * Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar, Colombian politician and military leader

References

Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1689 1689 establishments in the Spanish Empire {{Boyacá-geo-stub

History

The "Aerolito"

Born in Santa Rosa de Viterbo

Further reading

References