Zipacón () 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

Western Savanna Province Western Savanna Province is one of the 15 provinces in the Cundinamarca Department, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions i ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Zipacón is situated at an altitude of 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 ...

, the southern flatlands of 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 ...

in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. History Inaugural playing squad (1992) Honours *Premiers (2): 2002, 2013 *Runners-up (6): 199 ...

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 ...

. Zipacón borders Anolaima,

Facatativá Facatativá is a city and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, located about 18 miles (31 km) northwest of Bogotá, Colombia and 2,586 meters above sea level. The city is known for its Archaeological Park Piedras del Tunjo (Rocks of ...

, La Mesa and Bojacá.Official website Zipacón
/ref>

Etymology

The name Zipacón comes from Muysccubun and means "crying of 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 ...

''".

History

In the times 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 ...

, Zipacón 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 ...

, organised in their loose

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 ...

. Zipacón was the site of meditation for the ''zipa''. The settlement was at the border with the Panche, eternal enemies of the Muisca. It was in Zipacón where the Panche invaded when the Spanish

conquistadors 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 ...

were conquering the Bogotá savanna.''Zipa'' Sagipa
- Pueblos Originarios The oldest evidences for

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 ...

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es on the Bogotá savanna has been unearthed in Zipacón and dated at 3200 years BP.García, 2012, p.63 The settlement was inhabited since the

Herrera Period The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the Andean preceramic and ceramic, time equivalent of the North American pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Formative stage, formative and classic stages and age dated by var ...

, at least since 3270 BP.Nieto Escalante et al., 2010, p.96

Rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

has been discovered in Zipacón.Siteos arqueológicos
-

ICANH The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (), ICANH, is a scientific and technical government agency ascribed to the Ministry of Culture in charge of researching, producing and disseminating knowledge in the fields of anthropology, arche ...

Muñoz Castiblanco, 2006, p. 10Martínez & Botiva, 2004aMartínez & Botiva, 2004b, p. 15 Modern Zipacón was founded on July 5, 1561, by José Antonio Rubio.

Economy

Main economical activities of Zipacón are agriculture and livestock farming.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Municipalities cundinamarca department Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1561 1561 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places of the Muisca Confederation