Muzo () is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muzo is situated at a distance of from the departmental capital Tunja and from the capital of the Western Boyacá Province, Chiquinquirá. The urban centre is at an altitude of above sea level. Muzo borders Otanche and San Pablo de Borbur in the north, Maripí and Coper in the east, Quípama in the west and the department of Cundinamarca in the south.Official website Muzo
/ref>

Etymology

The town of Muzo was called Villa de la Santísima Trinidad de los Muzos, or simply Trinidad, when the Spanish

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

first founded the settlement in western Boyacá. Muzo is the autonym of the Muzo, the indigenous people who inhabited the region before the Spanish conquest.

Climate

The median temperature of Muzo is and the annual precipitation .

History

Before the Spanish conquest of the Eastern Colombian Andes, the region of Muzo was inhabited by the people with the same name. They extracted emeralds in pre-Columbian times, giving them the name "The Emerald People". Using poles of hard tropical wood and water, the people peeled the emeralds from the formations, in particular the Muzo Formation, named after the municipality. Historians have estimated the Muzo settled in the area of Muzo around 1000 AD.Tequia Porras, 2008, p. 25 The Cariban-speaking Muzo, like their

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

neighbours, adored the Sun and Moon as

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

. Unlike their eastern neighbours, they did not construct temples.Henao & Arrubla, 1820, p. 126

Spanish conquest

After the successful conquest by the Spanish of the eastern neighbours, the Muisca, and partial submittal of the Panche, the southern neighbours of the Muzo, the Spanish, in search of valuable resources, sent various conquistadors into the territories inhabited by the Muzo. The first to arrive in Muzo territory was Luis Lanchero, soldier of the conquest expedition led by Nikolaus Federmann, in 1539.Puche Riart, 1996, p. 99 He encountered fierce resistance by the indigenous Muzo and had to return to the newly founded capital Santafe de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada in 1541. The Muzo used the rugged terrain to their advantage and attacked the forty conquistadors, whose horses had problems crossing the hills of Muzo, using poisoned arrows.Tequia Porras, 2008, p. 35 During a second invasion by the Spanish into the Muzo lands, in 1544, conquistador Diego Martínez discovered the rich emerald deposits of Muzo.Uribe, 1960, p. 2 A third campaign to submit the Muzo was executed by conquistador Pedro de Ursúa in 1552. Also he failed to conquer the Muzo. A fourth time the Spanish attempted to subdue the Muzo to the Spanish Crown was successful; Luis Lanchero returned to the area where he was driven out almost two decades earlier, defeated the Muzo and founded the town of Villa de la Santísima Trinidad de los Muzos on February 20, 1559.

Colonial period

The first evangelisation was performed by Juan de los Barrios in 1566. The Spanish were highly interested in the emeralds of Muzo, proving to be the highest quality emeralds worldwide. They set up

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

s to guard the valuable gemstones and used the indigenous people to perform slave labour for the extraction of the minerals.

Economy

The main economical activity with approximately 75% of the municipal income is emerald mining. Agriculture and livestock farming comprise the remaining quarter of the economy of Muzo. Agricultural products cultivated are

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, cacao, yuca, avocados and

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruits.

Emerald mining

The Muzo mines are situated in the western flank of the Eastern ranges of the Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. The Devonshire, one of the world's most famous uncut emeralds, is from the Muzo mines. It is a emerald and was a gift to the 6th Duke of Devonshire by Emperor Dom Pedro I of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1831. The US National Museum Division of

Mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and

Petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous ...

carried out a study of the mines in 1916.

Gallery

File:Beryl-Calcite-22511.jpg, Muzo

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

File:Béryl var. émeraude sur gangue (Muzo Mine Boyaca - Colombie) 14.jpg, Emerald from Muzo File:Béryl var. émeraude sur gangue (Muzo Mine Boyaca - Colombie) -2.jpg, Muzo emeralds File:Beryl-122884.jpg, Emerald File:Beryl-130023.jpg, Individual emerald

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

MUZO Emerald Colombia
official site of Muzo Emeralds, with details on the emerald mine

Online copy of the 1916 U.S. National Museum study {{Colombian emeralds, state=expanded Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1559 1559 establishments in the Spanish Empire Colombian emeralds