Oicatá

Oicatá
Photos of Oicatá Photos of Oicatá
Flag of Oicatá Flag Official seal of Oicatá Seal
Location of the municipality and town of Oicatá in the Boyacá Department of Colombia. Location of the municipality and town of Oicatá in the Boyacá Department of Colombia.
Coordinates:
Country	Colombia
Department	Boyacá Department
Province	Central Boyacá Province
Founded	9 May 1539
Founded by	Pedro Ruiz Corredor
Government
• Mayor	Franky Fonseca Salamanca (2016-2019)
Area
• City	59 km2 (23 sq mi)
Elevation	2,815 m (9,236 ft)
Population (2015)
• City	2,834
• Density	48/km2 (120/sq mi)
• Urban	301
Time zone	Colombia Standard Time (UTC-5)
Website	Official website

Oicatá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Department of Boyacá, Colombia. The urban centre is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at an altitude of 2,815 metres (9,236 ft) and a distance of 153 kilometres (95 mi) from the national capital Bogotá and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the department capital Tunja. It borders Cómbita and Tuta in the north, Chivatá and Tunja in the south, Chivatá in the east and in the west Cómbita and Tunja.

Etymology

The name Oicatá comes from Chibcha and means "Domain of the priests" or "Hailstoned farmlands".

History

The municipality was founded on May 9, 1539 by Pedro Ruiz Corredor. Before the Spanish conquest it was the territory of the Muisca people, which was the most developed in the country socially, culturally, and in productivity. Post-conquest governmental power was exercised by the Governor General, who was directly appointed by the King of Spain.

After several centuries of Spanish rule, and after fierce battles, the people won their freedom from Spain in the Battle of Boyacá, where on August 7, 1819, troops under the command of Simón Bolívar defeated the Spanish forces.

In 1821 the Constitution of Cúcuta divided the country into departments, the departments into provinces, provinces into counties, and counties into parishes, establishing Boyacá Department as an administrative entity comprising the provinces of Tunja, Pamplona, Socorro and Casanare.

The Act of June 15, 1857, established Boyacá as a sovereign state consisting of the provinces of Tunja, Tundama, Casanare, and the counties of Chiquinquirá and Velez.

The Act of October 31 of that year created four departments: Tunja with 42 districts, Tundama with 46, Casanare with 21, and Oriente (East) with 6.

Under the Constitution of Rionegro in 1863 the administrative divisions of Boyacá underwent various modifications, and Law 10 of that year established a new division into 6 departments: Casanare, Tundama, North, West, East and Centre.

The centrist Constitution of 1886 divided the country into departments, the departments into provinces, and the provinces into municipalities.

The provinces were abolished in 1911 by Executive Decree No. 306, and several municipalities were separated off to form the commissariat of Arauca.

Afterward the municipalities in the Orinoco region formed the intendency of Casanare as a newly annexed territory of Boyacá Department until 1973, when it split off again.

Economy

Main economical activity of Oicatá is agriculture with products potatoes, maize, barley, wheat, peas and beans.

Gallery

• Parque principal2.jpg

  Doctrineros 16th century temple

• Oicatá posterior.JPG

  View of Oicatá

• Rátiva.JPG

  Rural area

• Plaza oicata 02.jpg

  Central square

• Árbol de Laurel silvestre.jpg

  Laurel silvestre tree

• Pozo Pio 9°.jpg

  Well of Pius IX, containing a hot spring

• Iglesiaoicata.jpg

  Church interior

• AlcaldiaOicata.JPG

  Council house

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Panorama Oicatá