Cajicá
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Cajicá
|nickname = Fortaleza de Piedra
("The Stone Fortress")
|settlement_type = Municipality and town
|motto =
|image_skyline = Catedral-Cajica-Cund(Col).JPG
|imagesize =
|image_caption = Church of Cajicá
|image_flag = Flag of Cajicá.svg
|image_seal = Escudo de Cajicá.svg
|image_map = Colombia - Cundinamarca - Cajicá.svg
|mapsize = 250px
|map_caption = Location of the town and municipality of Cajicá in the department of Cundinamarca
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Colombia
|subdivision_type1 = Department
|subdivision_name1 = Cundinamarca
|subdivision_type2 = Province
|subdivision_name2 = Central Savanna Province
|leader_title = Mayor
|leader_name = Fabiola Jácome Rincón
(2024-2027)
|established_title = Founded
|established_date = 5 March 1598
|area_magnitude =
|area_total_km2 = 51.28
|area_land_km2 =
|area_water_km2 =
|area_water_percent =
|area_urban_km2 = 5.82
|area_metro_km2 =
|population_as_of = 2018 census
|population_footnotes = [http://www.citypopulation.de/en/colombia/cundinamarca/25126/ Citypopulation.de]
|population_total = 82244
|population_metro =
|population_urban = 54111
|population_density_km2 = auto
|population_density_urban_km2 = auto
|timezone = Colombia standard time
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST =
|utc_offset_DST =
|coordinates = {{coord|4|55|N|74|02|W|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_m = 2558
|website = [http://www.cajica-cundinamarca.gov.co Official website]
|footnotes =
}}
Cajicá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca, {{convert|39|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of the capital Bogotá. It is located in the Central Savanna Province, being the third most populous municipality in the province after Zipaquirá and Chía. It is bordered by the municipalities of Zipaquirá to the north, Sopó to the east, Chía to the south, and Tabio to the west. The town is located at an altitude of {{convert|2558|m|ft}} and has an average temperature of {{convert|14|C|F}}.
Etymology
The name of Cajicá derives from a corruption of the two words ca ("enclosure") and jica ("stone").{{in lang|es}} [http://cajica.gov.co/index.php/recurso-humano/item/206-historia History and etymology of Cajicá] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604100801/http://cajica.gov.co/index.php/recurso-humano/item/206-historia |date=2016-06-04 }} Primary sources have two meanings for Cajicá; either derived from the cacique Cajic, or the "stone enclosure" or "stone fortress".Román, 2008, p.288
History
According to imagined history as described by Ángel Luís Román, the area of Cajicá, in the valley of Kaj was inhabited since approximately 12,460 BC.Román, 2008, p.281
The stone wall has been described to have been constructed in two phases; an early phase made of wooden poles and a second phase, built between around 1220 and 1400, out of stone, rare for the Muisca. The wall has been described to have been four meters high and 80 centimeters thick. The Muisca fortress was said to be located strategically on the Bogotá savanna between Funza and Fusagasugá in the south and the road to the regions in the north (Boyacá and Santander) roughly on the site known today as Las Manas. Rituals were allegedly performed by the merchants and soldiers travelling through the valley on the road between Zipaquirá and Tabio.Román, 2008, p.289 It however remains unclear if this stone fortress was built in pre-Columbian time or after the Spanish conquest.Román, 2008, p.298
Supposedly at this site the vanguard of the conquistador army of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada first encountered the Muisca on March 23, 1537.
A description of Cajicá from 1593 lists a population of 776 indigenous people. The date of the Spanish foundation of the town is considered to be March 5, 1598{{in lang|es}} [http://historiadecajica.blogspot.com.co/p/cajica-pre-colombina.html Foundation year of Cajicá] when Juan de Hoyo began the construction of the first church of brick, under the orders of Miguel de Ibarra. Both the original and successive churches were destroyed by earthquakes: the town's present church started construction towards the end of the 19th century and completed in 1930.
Economy
Some 75% of the land of the present day municipality is used for agriculture, but the town also derives a sizeable proportion of its income as a nearby country retreat for wealthy Bogotanos, including country villas and high-end restaurants.
Gallery
File:Plaza central Cajicá.JPG|Central square Cajicá
File:IGLESIA CAJICA AÑOS 50.jpg|Church of Cajicá in the 1950s
File:Estación del ferrocarril de Cajica.JPG|Train station Cajicá
File:Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción de Cajicá (3).JPG|Church Cajicá
File:Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción de Cajicá (1).JPG|Church tower
File:Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción de Cajicá (2).JPG|Church front detail
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{citation |last=Román |first=Ángel Luís |year=2008 |title=Necesidades fundacionales e historia indígena imaginada de Cajicá: una revisión de esta mirada a través de fuentes primarias (1593-1638) - Foundational needs and imagined indigenous history of Cajicá: a review of this look using primary sources (1593-1638) |url=http://www.docentes.unal.edu.co/hhhenderson/docs/Teoria/muiscas_armado2.pdf |pages=276–313 |publisher=Universidad de los Andes |location=Bogotá, Colombia |language=es |accessdate=2016-07-08}}
External links
{{commons category|Cajicá}}
- {{in lang|es}} [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/co-cuncj.html : FOTW: Flag and Coat of Arms of Cajica]
{{Municipalities cundinamarca department}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cajica}}
Category:Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department
Category:Populated places established in 1598
Category:1598 establishments in the Spanish Empire
Category:Populated places of the Muisca Confederation
Category:Archaeological sites of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense