Facatativá

Facatativá is a city and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, located about 18 miles (31 km) northwest of Bogotá, Colombia and 2,586 meters above sea level. The city is known for its Archaeological Park Piedras del Tunjo (Rocks of the Tunjo Indian) and best known in Colombia as Piedras del Tunjo (literally, Rocks of Tunjo), although locals call it Piedras de Tunja (Rocks of Tunja). It features large rock formations that were once the bottom of a lake. The word Facatativá comes from the indigenous Chibcha language spoken by the Muisca who inhabited the area of Facatativá before the Spanish conquest. It has been translated and interpreted differently over time. The historically accepted translation is "fenced fort at the end of the plains" (Cercado fuerte al final de la llanura) although it has also been translated as "fenced fort outside the farming soil" (Cercado fuerte a las afueras de la labranza) This refers to the town being at the edge of the Bogotá savanna. Facatativá traces its history to indigenous cultures of the Andes similar to the ones found in the rest of Latin America. Although there is not an accurate record of the time human activity first took place in that area. Excavations have shown nevertheless that the highlands of Colombia might have been inhabited since the holocene era. Different records of historic human activity have been found in Facatativá. Evidence of inhabitants of the Herrera Period and Muisca pottery and indigenous paintings and sculptures are samples of their religious beliefs and social structure. The Piedras del Tunjo Archaeological Park for example features prehistoric paintings, many of them now vandalized. Facatativá was discovered by the Spanish conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, while on the quest for El Dorado. Jiménez de Quesada had his first contact with what is today's Facatativá while trying to capture indigenous Muisca zipa Tisquesusa who intended to escape the Spanish invasion with six hundred men. Tisquesusa was captured and killed by Spanish soldiers on July 15, 1537.