Chiquinquirá

Municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia

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Location of the municipality and town of Chiquinquirá in the Boyacá Department of Colombia.

5°37′08″N 73°49′12″W / 5.61889°N 73.82000°W / 5.61889; -73.82000Country

ColombiaDepartmentBoyacá DepartmentProvinceWestern Boyacá ProvinceFoundedneverGovernment

• MayorWilmar Ancizar Triana González
(2020-2023)Area

• Municipality and town165 km² (64 sq mi) • Urban

6.38 km² (2.46 sq mi)Elevation

2,556 m (8,386 ft)Population

(2018 census)^[1]

• Municipality and town56,054 • Density340/km² (880/sq mi) • Urban

49,016 • Urban density7,700/km² (20,000/sq mi)DemonymChiquinquireñoTime zoneUTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time)Postal code

154640-49

Area code57 + 8WebsiteOfficial website

Chiquinquirá is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá,^[2] part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. Located some 115 km north of Bogotá, Chiquinquirá is situated 2,556 metres (8,386 ft) above sea level and has a yearly average temperature 58 °F (14 °C)

Etymology

The name Chiquinquirá comes from Chibcha and means "Place of swamps covered with fog".^[3]

Geography and religion

Chiquinquirá is constituted by two zones: the urban zone or town which is formed by approximately 40 neighbourhoods between the strata 1 and 4, and the rural zone which is divided in 17 sub zones located around the city.

It is home to the Basílica de Chiquinquirá, which houses the image of the Virgen de Chiquinquirá, the patroness saint of Colombia. Chiquinquirá is a major point of religious pilgrimage (source: Colombia Lonely Planet Guide, 2nd Edition, 1995).

History

The area of Chiquinquirá used to be inhabited by the Muisca before the Spanish conquest and Chiquinquirá was an important place in the Chiquinquirá Valley. It was ruled by an independent cacique within the Muisca Confederation. It was never properly founded as a municipality.^[4]

In November, 1967, 81 people in Chiquinquirá, most of them children, were fatally poisoned and hundreds more became seriously ill after eating bread that had been made with flour that had been contaminated with a powdered insecticide.^[5]^[6]

Murder charges would later be filed against a Bogotá truck driver who had delivered the flour and the owner of the bakery that had baked and sold the bread to local residents.^[7]

Geology

The Chiquinquirá Sandstone is named after the town.

Gallery

Cultural centre
David Guarín Park
Church
Painting of the Virgin Mary

References

^ Citypopulation.de
^ "Alcaldía de Chiquinquirá - Boyacá". Gobierno en Línea.net. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
^ (in Spanish) Etymology Chiquinquirá - Excelsio.net
^ (in Spanish) Official website Chiquinquirá
^ "Impure Bread Is Fatal to 75", Chicago Tribune, November 26, 1967, p1
^ "74 Muertos en Chiquinquirá", El Tiempo (Bogotá), November 26, 1967, p1
^ "Colombia Files Murder Charges in Poison Deaths", Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), December 10, 1967, p26B