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 The Western Boyacá Province is a province of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The province is formed by 15 municipalities. The province hosts the western belt of the rich emerald deposits of Boyacá. Municipalities Briceño • Buenavi ...

, 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 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, ...

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 Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

and from the capital of the Western Boyacá Province,

Chiquinquirá Chiquinquirá is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. Located some 115 km north of Bogotá, Chiquinquirá is situated above sea level and has a yearly aver ...

. The urban centre is at an altitude of above sea level. Muzo borders

Otanche Otanche is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. Climate Otanche has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname inc ...

and

San Pablo de Borbur San Pablo de Borbur is a town and municipality in the 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 Colombia ...

in the north,

Maripí Maripí is a town and municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. The town hosts an important Colombian emeralds, emerald mine; La Pita. ...

and Coper in the east,

Quípama Quípama is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. It is home of one of the largest emerald mines in the world. Climate Quípama has a tropical rainforest climate ...

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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

of the

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. 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 The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

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 Muzo () is a town and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the departments of Colombia, department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of Colombian emerald ...

, 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 The Cariban languages are a family of languages Indigenous to north-eastern South America. They are widespread across northernmost South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes, and they are also spoken in small pock ...

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

, 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 Luis Lanchero, also known as Luis Lancheros (?, Spanish Empire, Castile - 1562, Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish List of conquistadors in Colombia, conquistador and the founder of the town of Muzo, Trinidad de los Muzos, Boyacá Depart ...

, soldier of the conquest expedition led by

Nikolaus Federmann Nikolaus Federmann (, ) (c. 1505, Ulm – February 1542, Valladolid) was a German adventurer and conquistador in what is modern-day Venezuela and Colombia. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Venedig (1528–1546), the concessio ...

, 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 New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

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 Pedro de Ursúa (1526 –January 1, 1561) was a Spanish list of conquistadors in Colombia, conquistador from Baztan (municipality), Baztan in Navarre. He is best known for his final trip with Lope de Aguirre in search for El Dorado, where he w ...

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 Friar Juan de los Barrios y Toledo, OFM (1496 – February 12, 1569) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Santafé de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada, (1564–1569), ''(in Latin)'' Bishop of Santa Marta (1 ...

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 Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

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 ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennia ...

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

s 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 The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. History Inaugural playing squad (1992) Honours *Premiers (2): 2002, 2013 *Runners-up (6): 199 ...

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 Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the wes ...

, 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 Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an e ...

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