Paipa

Paipa is a town and municipality in the Tundama Province, a part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Paipa borders Duitama, Firavitoba, Tibasosa, Sotaquirá and Tuta. Paipa is located 15 km west of Duitama and to the northeast of Tunja, the capital of the department, in the Cordillera Oriental (Eastern Ranges) of the Colombian Andes. It is the main tourist center of the region, with a number of large hotels and hot springs. At an elevation of 2525 m, the climate is mild with an average of 14 °C. Paipa is named after the cacique (leader) of the Paipa people. Before the Spanish conquest in the 1530s, Paipa was inhabited by the Muisca people. The loose Muisca Confederation comprised different rulers; the cacique of Paipa was loyal to the Tundama of Tundama. Conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada visited Paipa in 1539 in his search for the Sun Temple. Modern Paipa was founded on February 19, 1602, by Luís Enríquez. Paipa's first building was the church, built where the cathedral stands today, with clay tile, walls, and stone foundations. Initially, it served as a headquarters for police and justice services, and also for tax collection in Paipa and surrounding villages. On November 4, 1755, Paipa was designated as a Corregimiento, and Don Ignacio de Caicedo was named as first Corregidor. In 1758 he appointed Juan Avellaneda, Miguel Rodriguez and Esteban Lara as the first mayor of Paipa. The municipality boundaries of Paipa were demarcated in 1778. The first event that led to Paipa's reputation as a tourist city was the arrival of specialists in 1825 to analyze the local mineral waters. Tourist activity began to pick up after 1852 when the central government sent a natural resources committee headed by General Agustín Codazzi. The construction of the current cathedral in Jaime Rook park began in 1906 and was finished in 1920. The first passenger trains arrived from Bogota in late 1930 and early 1931. Mineral water pools and spas were built in 1938, launching the local tourist industry, which was reinforced by the construction of Lake Sochagota in 1955.