Usaquén is the 1st locality of

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 ...

, capital 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 ...

. It is located in the north of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by upper middle and upper class residents. It is designated as Bogotá's #1 locality, while being a separate municipality of Cundinamarca until 1954, when it was annexed into the city. Today, Usaquén is home to more than 480,000 inhabitants as projected by 2008. The Eastern Hills form the natural border to the east.

General information

Borders

* North: The municipality of Chía * East: The municipality of La Calera * South: The locality of

Chapinero Chapinero is the 2nd locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is located in the north of the city and is one of the more affluent districts of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by upper-class residents. The boundaries are Calle 39 ...

* West: The locality of Suba

Sites of interest

* The colonial quarter of Usaquén includes most of the buildings which belonged to the old municipality of the same name. These buildings are characterized by its Spanish colonial style architecture, similar of those in the La Candelaria neighborhood. Some important buildings in the area include: the Santa Barbara church (constructed in 1665 and modernized in the 20th century), the old country manor of the same name (now a mall) and the San José de Usaquén seminar and a variety of good restaurants. * Country Club, the largest

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

club in Bogotá * Hacienda Santa Barbara, a colonial style Hacienda that now serves as a shopping mall * Unicentro, Bogotá shopping mall, dating back to the mid seventies * Santa Ana Centro Comercial, shopping mall * Weekly Mercado de Las Pulgas (translated, Flea Market) - Takes place every Sunday on and around Plaza Usaquén. It is popular with local Bogotans as well as visitors. It is a place to shop for handicrafts, and various knick knacks. The main focus is on enjoyment. People come to enjoy the ambience. There is often entertainment on the square including bands, dancers, jugglers and mime artists. There is also a variety of local snacks and deserts available. Visitors often combine the visit with lunch on one of the many up-market restaurants in the area. * La Aguadora Trail: La Aguadora is a hiking trail located in Usaquén, access is managed by The Bogotá Aqueduct Company. Ecological walks of this trail are conducted regularly by the District Institute of Recreation and Sports "IDRD"

History

The name comes from the ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' ''Usaque'', who was ruling the area of the southern

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 ...

as 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 ...

. ''Usaque'' in Muysccubun means "under the pole".Etymology Usaquén
In 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 ...

and his troops arrived on the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...

. Usaquén was abandoned by

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

decree in 1777. It was gradually repopulated by people from Bogotá, and was host to some fighting during the war for Colombian independence. It was re-founded as a municipality in 1846, and in 1860 it was the scene of a battle between government troops and

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Tomás Cipriano Ignacio Maria de Mosquera y Figueroa Arboleda Salazar, Prieto de Tovar, Vergara, Silva, Hurtado de Mendoza, Urrutia y Guzmán (September 26, 1798 – October 7, 1878) was a Colombian general, political figure, and slaveholder ...

. After winning that battle, Cipriano took power of the country. Until 1954, the municipality covered , starting from

Avenida España Avenida España, or España Avenue may refer to: *Avenida España (Trujillo), Peru *Avenida España (Valparaíso), coastal road from Valparaíso to neighboring Viña del Mar, Chile *Avenida España (:es:avenida España (Asunción), es), in Asunció ...

in the south and ending to the north along the road to Chía. It had traditionally been a spot for Bogotá's elites to maintain country homes. When it was integrated into the city, it maintained many of its municipal institutions, but with the supervision of Bogotá's mayor. Under the new constitution of 1991, Bogotá was reorganized into localities. Usaquén was numbered first of twenty. On December 31, 1978, the guerrilla group

M-19 M19, M.19, or M-19 most commonly refers to: * May 19th Communist Organization (M19), an American far-left female-led terrorist group active during the 1970s–1980s * 19th of April Movement (M-19), a former Colombian guerrilla movement and political ...

took the military base called Cantón Norte, robbing the arsenal.

Neighbourhoods and parks

Neighborhoods

Among the important neighborhoods are: Tibabita, Lijacá, Verbenal, San Antonio,El Codito, Servitá, San Cristóbal Norte, Toberín, Barrancas, Cedritos, Bella Suiza, La Carolina, Santa Ana, Santa Bárbara, San Gabriel Norte, Cantón Norte, Francisco Miranda, Las Margaritas, San Patricio and the colonial heart of Usaquén.

Parks

Torca, located at the extreme north, is the locality's largest park. The Country Club's polo area was acquired by the District and transformed into a metropolitan park for northern Bogotá.

Education

Gimnasio Alessandro Volta, a private Italian international school, is in Usaquén.Home page
. Gimnasio Alessandro Volta. Retrieved on November 21, 2015. "GIMNASIO ALESSANDRO VOLTA Cll. 119 No. 4-79 Usaquén ..ogotá - Colombia"

External links

*
Unicentro mall website
*
Directorio del barrio Cedritos en la localidad de Usaquén

References

{{Authority control Localities of Bogotá Altiplano Cundiboyacense Populated places of the Muisca Confederation