San Sebastian de Mariquita is a town and municipality in the Tolima department 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...

, about north of 180 km from Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

. This town and municipality contains several very Important Spanish settlements that were located here due to its vicinity to the Magdalena River

Magdalena River

The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

. Today, Mariquita is frequented by tourists from the capital attracted to its natural diversity, like the Medina Waterfalls (Las Cataratas de Medina) and the mint

Mint (coin)

A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...

 (casa de la moneda). It was the place of death of the Spanish Conqueror Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in Colombia. He explored the northern part of South America. While successful in many of his exploits, acquiring massive amounts of gold and emeralds, he ended his career disastrously; and has been suggested as a possible model...

and today it is home to large hotels and haciendas, among them La Villa de los Caballeros.

The population of the municipality was 32,642 as of the 2005 census.