Chocontá
Encyclopedia
Chocontá is a municipality and town of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 in the department
Departments of Colombia
Colombia is an unitary republic formed by thirty-two departments and a Capital District . Each department has a Governor and a Department Assembly , elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods...

 of Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....

. It is located on the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...

.

In 1938 Choconta had a population of 2,041.

History

Foundation date: 06 September, 1538

A new town was founded in a hill on the other side of the Funza river, in front of the current site in 1563 by mandate of the Oidor Tomás Lópes, and it was moved to the current site in 1573.

Chocontá in Chibcha language means: “Cultivation of the good ally"/"Garden of the neighbour". In precolombian times, it was strong spot for the Zipas. Spaniards arrived on 9 June, 1537, Pentecostal day, when Father Fray Domingo de las Casas named it "Town of the Holy Spirit" ("Pueblo del Espíritu Santo") with a mass.

Gonzálo Jiménez de Quezada visited the town in 1537. In 1854 it was presidential headquarters and on 21 April, 1854 Tomás Herrera was proclaimed President in the Rectory of the town. On 9 August, 1819 at 2 pm The Liberator Simón Bolívar arrived to Chocontá and stayed to rest in what currently is the House of Culture after his trioumph, defining the fate of the Colombian Republic.

External links

Government of Cundinamarca; Choconta Choconta official website
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