Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. It is the capital of the

Sugamuxi Province The Sugamuxi Province () is a subregion of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The subregion is formed by 13 municipalities. Etymology The name of the province comes from Sugamuxi, the last ''iraca'' of the Muisca and means in Chibcha: "Dwel ...

, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

tradition of pilgrimage and adoring their Sun god Sué at the

Sun Temple A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around the ...

. The city is located at an altitude of on 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. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leag ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Etymology

Sogamoso is named after Sugamuxi or Suamox, the original name in

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lan ...

for the city and

Sugamuxi Sugamuxi (died 1539) was the last '' iraca''; ''cacique'' of the sacred City of the Sun Suamox. Sugamuxi, presently called Sogamoso, was an important city in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the times be ...

, the last '' iraca'' of the sacred City of the Sun. Suamuxi means "Dwelling of the Sun".Etymology Sogamoso
- Excelsio.net Knowledge about Sugamuxi has been provided by Pedro Simón and the German countess Gertrud von Podewils Dürniz, in her work ''Chigys Mie''.

Geographical limits

Sogamoso limits with the following municipalities:Official website Sogamoso
/ref> * north:

Nobsa Nobsa is a town and municipality in Sugamuxi Province, part of Boyacá department. The urban centre is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the national capital Bogotá at an elevation of . Other parts of the municipality range in el ...

and Tópaga * east: Tópaga, Monguí and

Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gal ...

- 3030 m * south: Aquitania, Cuítiva and Iza * west: Tibasosa, Firavitoba

Climate

Sogamoso has a temperate climate with an average temperature of 20 °C.

History

Before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

, Suamox, as it was called, was ruled by the '' iraca'' of which the last ruler was called

. The city was a place of pilgrimage and the ''iraca'' was both priest and ruler housed in the

, a richly ornamented temple honouring Sué, the Sun god in the

Muisca religion Muisca religion describes the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands of the Colombian Andes before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca. The Muisca formed a confederation of holy rulers and had a variety of deities, temples an ...

Conquest and New Kingdom of Granada

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

was the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

of the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. T ...

, arriving in Suamox territories (Iraca Valley) in September 1537. Soldiers of De Quesada -according to Spanish chroniclers accidentally- set the Sun Temple on fire.

Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita (1624, Bogotá – March 29, 1688) was a Spanish Neogranadine Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Panamá (1676–1688) ''(in Latin)'' and the Bishop of Santa Marta (1668–1676).Arzobispo de Pan ...

narrates about the march of De Quesada to Suamox, the looting of the city and the fire of the temple of the Sun. Soon after the conquest, the missionaries began the construction of a chapel that would open the way to the first Catholic church of the time, located on the central square. Natural scientist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

who visited the

New Kingdom of Granada The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...

at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote about Sogamoso in his chronicles.

Suamox in Muisca history

Administrative division

According to the political Map – administrative Number 41ª, del Plan of Territorial Classification 1999–2010, in February of the year 2000, the city was conformed by 18 veredas:

Neighbourhoods

Sogamoso is composed of 70 neighbourhoods.Map of the neighbourhoods
/ref>
l. Alamos del sur 2. Álvaro González Santana 3. Angelmar 4. Benjamín Herrera 5. Campoamor 6. Centro 7. Chapinero 8. Chicamocha 9. Colombia 10. El Cortez 11. El Diamante 12. El Durazno 13. El Jardín 14. El Laguito 15. El Nogal 16. El Oriente 17. El Prado 18. El Recreo 19. El Rosario 20. El Sol 21. El Carmen 22. Gustavo Jiménez Jiménez 23. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán 24. José Antonio Galán 25. Juan José Rondón 26. La Castellana 27. La Esmeralda 28. La Florida 29. La Isla 30. La Pradera 31. La Villita 32. Las Acacias 33. Las Américas 34. Los Alisos 35. Los Alpes 36. Los Arrayanes 37. Los Libertadores 38. Los Rosales 39. Los Sauces 40. Lunapark 41. Magdalena 42. Monquirá 43. Enrique Olaya Herrera 44. Prado Norte 45. Rafael Uribe Uribe 46. San Andresito 47. San Cristóbal 48. San Martín 49. San Martín- Centro 50. Santa Ana- Mochacá 51. Santa Bárbara 52. Santa Catalina 53. Santa Helena 54. Santa Inés 55. San Rafael 56. Santa Isabel 57. Santa Marta 58. Siete de Agosto 59. Simón Bolívar 60. Sucre 61. Sugamuxi 62. Universitario 63. Rafael Valdés Tavera 64. Veinte de Julio 65. Venecia 66. Villa Blanca 67. Villa del Sol 68. Asodea 69. Villa del Lago 70. Valdez Tavera

Economy

The economy of Sogamoso is centered around

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, trade, the

steel industry Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

and

construction materials This is a list of building materials. Many types of building materials are used in the construction industry to create buildings and structures. These categories of materials and products are used by architects and construction project managers ...

, and in the exploitation of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. During the years 2007 and 2008, the city had a quick development in urban construction.

Transportation

Sogamoso is served by Alberto Lleras Camargo Airport.

Aerocivil The Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia ( es, Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronáutica Civil, also known as ''Aeronáutica Civil'', ''Aerocivil'' or UAEAC) is a government agency of the Colombian Ministry of Transport. It is the agency in c ...

lifted the restriction of air operations in September 2009. Due to the increase of economic relationships with Bogotá and the rest of the region, the government realised the need to build a highway.

Education

As of 2016, Sogamoso has seven universities: * Sogamoso Faculty of Pedagogical and Technological University Of Colombia, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC) * Open National University at Distance * University Corporation Remington * Polytechnic Grancolombiano * University of Pamplona * Superior school of Public Administration E.S.A.P. * Sogamoso Faculty of the University of Boyacá

Culture

Sites of interest

The city hosts historical places as: * Archaeology Museum Sogamoso, with a reconstruction of the

* Central park * 6 September square * The Pile-Mochacá, from the ancient city "the old Sogamoso" * Morca, where the Virgin Of Morca is venerated * Nearby Lake Tota, largest lake of Colombia and sacred site of the Muisca

Festivals and celebrations

* September 6: Anniversary of the city * July: Festivities of the Sun and of the Steel * Huán Festival, recreation of the indigenous ceremony of the adoration of the Sun * September: International Festival of The Culture * October: Festival of the corn * October: Festival of the mud

Radio stations of Sogamoso

* Rumba Stereo 106.1 FM * Tropicana Stereo 107.3 FM * Sun Stereo 99.1 FM * RCN Basic Radio 1200 AM * Caracol Radio 1090 AM * RCN Antenna 2 1440 AM * 96.1 FM

Born in Sogamoso

* Elkin Barrera, former professional cyclist * Henry Cárdenas, former professional cyclist *

Edgar Corredor Edgar Corredor (born 24 February 1960) is a Colombian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in four editions of the Tour de France and five editions of the Vuelta a España. Major results ;1982 :8th Overall Vuelta a Colombia ::1st Stages ...

, former professional cyclist * Camilo Gómez, professional cyclist *

Chepe González José Jaime González Pico (born July 28, 1968, in Sogamoso, Boyacá), also known as Chepe González, is a Colombian former road bicycle racer. He won stages in Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. He also won the Vuelta a Colombia in 1994 ...

, former professional cyclist * Luis Alfredo López, former professional cyclist *

Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto (born November 22, 1959 in Sogamoso, Boyacá) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the ''Novatos'' classification for new riders or riders riding their ...

, former professional cyclist * Humberto Parra, former professional cyclist *

Iván Parra Iván Ramiro Parra Pinto (born 14 October 1975 in Sogamoso) is a Colombian former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for Petróleos de Colombia, , , , Cafes Baque, , , and . Parra comes from a Colombian cycling family. His father, H ...

, former professional cyclist *

Alfonso Patiño Rosselli Alfonso Patiño Rosselli (1923 – 7 November 1985) was a Colombian jurist and diplomat who died in the 1985 Palace of Justice Siege by the M-19 where he was a Magistrate and President of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Co ...

, Colombian diplomat * Álvaro Sierra, former professional cyclist * Íkaro Valderrama, Latin-Siberian folk musician

Gallery

File:Vista Panorámica Plaza De La Villa Sogamoso.jpg, Central square File:Plaza De La Villa - Costado Norte - Edificio Intercontinental.jpg, Central square File:Plaza De La Villa - Monumento Al Sol De Espaldas.jpg, Monument to the Sun on the central square File:Monumento al sol.JPG, Monument to the Sun and cathedral File:Monumento al Sol y Catedral San martín Sogamoso.jpg, Cathedral by night File:Morca 03.JPG, Church in the vereda Morcá File:Plaza De Toros La Pradera - Sogamoso.jpg, Bull fighting arena File:Teatro Sogamoso (Sogamoso).jpg, Theatre File:Malokas.jpg, Reconstruction of Muisca houses in the Archaeology Museum File:Templo del sol.jpg, Reconstruction of the Sun Temple

References

External links

*
General information on Sogamoso
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