Guaduas (original) (raw)

Municipality and town in Cundinamarca, Colombia

Villa de Guaduas Villa de San Miguel de las Guaduas
Municipality and town
Flag of Villa de GuaduasFlagOfficial seal of Villa de GuaduasSeal
Nickname: Guaduas
Motto: Confianza y Desarrollo
Location of the town and municipality of Guaduas in Cundinamarca Department.Location of the town and municipality of Guaduas in Cundinamarca Department.
Villa de Guaduas is located in ColombiaVilla de GuaduasVilla de GuaduasLocation in Colombia
Coordinates: 5°4′10″N 74°35′53″W / 5.06944°N 74.59806°W / 5.06944; -74.59806
Country Colombia
Department Cundinamarca
Province Bajo Magdalena
Natural region Andean Region
Settled around 1549
Established December 13, 1610
Founded December 27, 1644
Government
• Type Municipality
• Mayor Jhon Alexander Morera
Area
Municipality and town 763.7 km2 (294.9 sq mi)
• Urban 8.51 km2 (3.29 sq mi)
Elevation 992 m (3,255 ft)
Population (2020 est.)[1]
Municipality and town 33,212
• Density 43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Urban 15,862
• Urban density 1,900/km2 (4,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s) guadeño, -ña (es)
Website http://www.villadeguaduas.gov.co

Guaduas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡaðwas]) is a municipality and town in Colombia, in the Lower Magdalena Province department of Cundinamarca, about 117 km from Bogotá. It is an agricultural and tourist center of some importance with a population of about 33,000 in the municipality. Its name refers to a type of bamboo cane. It is one of the cities on the Bogotá-Medellín highway. Its main plaza is featured on the Colombian ten-thousand pesos bill, and is one of the seats of the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Dorada–Guaduas

The early inhabitants of the "Valley of the Guaduas" were the indigenous Panche people. It was an important stop on the road from Santafé de Bogotá to Honda, located in a small, fertile valley. The town proper was founded on April 20, 1572 by Andrés Díaz Venero de Leiva. It was abandoned after its foundation until December 13, 1610, when Fray Tomas de Morales founded the Franciscan monastery of La Soledad on the same location. It was recognized officially as a villa on December 27, 1644 and formally re-founded by Francisco Pérez de Guzmán.

In 1696, Guaduas became a parish seat, thanks to a charter from King Charles II. The convent was closed around 1805. In 1809 Fray Domingo de Petres, a Capuchin architect who also directed the construction of the Cathedral of Bogotá, began building a church in the village. The original convent building was subsequently transformed into a prison by order of the Congress of Cucuta.

Guaduas was a center of botanical experimentation, which included the introduction of níspero trees from the West Indies in the late 18th century. The crop is now widely cultivated in the region.

The provincial constitution of 1815 upgraded Guaduas to a canton, which in turn was incorporated into the province of Bogotá in 1824. The town experienced rapid growth after that. The first official school was opened in 1833, the town acquired the status of provincial capital in 1857, four years later the local hospital was founded, and in 1871 it was connected to the national telegraph network.

In recognition of its historical significance, Guaduas was declared a Pueblo Patrimonio (heritage town) by the Colombian government in 2010.[2] The municipal anthem's music and lyrics were written by Guaduas-born Miguel Raga Fernández in the mid-1940s.

The 7 Wonders of Guaduas

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In 2007, the school community of Guaduas picked 7 of the locality's most notable features or locations:

The Maastrichtian-Paleocene Guaduas Formation is named after Guaduas.

Development Organizations

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  1. ^ Citypopulation.de Population of Guaduas municipality
  2. ^ "GUÍA: Red Turística de Pueblos Patrimonio de Colombia" (PDF). Fondo Nacional de Turismo de la República de Colombia - FONTUR. December 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.