Zipaquirá

By Brenda Yun

Zipaquirá is mostly known for its enormous, underground salt cathedral, but what visitors don’t know is that it is one of the more attractive colonial towns in the country and that it is worth spending a day or two to bask in the sun and surrounding greenery. The main plaza boasts the history of this salt mining town, and the wealth of Zipaquirá is immediately evident in a brief glance of the immense cathedral on the square and the immaculately clean conditions of the narrow surrounding streets. A sign that reads “Señor Presidente: Zipaquirá confía en usted” also exudes a sense of town and national pride.

In pre-Colombian times, this town was home to the Muisca people. “Zipaquirá,” which in chibcha, the Muiscan language, means “the land of the zipa (king),” clearly suggests that this was a prosperous region, which was likely wholly due to the value placed on salt that the Muisca people would sell or trade for decent money or goods.

If you can believe it, the salt that is still being mined from the mountainside to this day was formed because Zipaquirá used to be under water thousands of years ago. Still today, the salt found in the mountain continues to be mined and used around the country.