Calarcá
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2019) |
Calarcá, Quindío | |
|---|---|
Municipality and town | |
 View of Calarcá | |
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UTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time) | |
| Area code | 57 + 6 |
| Website | Official website (in Spanish) |
Calarcá is a municipality in the eastern part of the department of Quindío, Colombia. It is located 4 km east of the departmental capital Armenia. Its nickname is La Villa del Cacique in homage of its writers. The city was founded in 1886 by Segundo Henao during the time of colonization by people from Antioquia. It is the second most populated city in Quindío, after Armenia.
In 2023, Calarcá had an estimated population of 75,979.[1] Located along the Colombian coffee growing axis, it was made part of the "Coffee Cultural Landscape" UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.[2]
History
The name derived from an indigenous chief of the Pijaos Tribe, who lived in this land. According to the legends, this chief died in a fight with an indigenous converted into the Catholicism, Baltazar Maldonado, to keep the power of the territory, in a fight placed on Peñas Blancas, a characteristic mountain of the city.
Calarcá was founded on June 29 of 1886. The city was founded by Roman Mario Valencia and Segundo Henao, people who went from Salento making explorations through the region, in the final part of the antioqueña foundations. In the beginning the city based its economy on mining and commerce. Years later (about the 1930s) the coffee arrived in the region and Calarcá became in one of the most important producers of the region and whole the country. The wealthy generated by the coffee, allowed the city to reach good conditions of developed and a cultural progress, which started to characterize the city as a cradle of poets, such as Luis Vidales and Bauidilio Montoya.
The city is host of different events, such as the national festival of the coffee, among the many activities there is one called "yippao" where different Jeeps (a characteristic car of the region) are customized by their owner and go through the city, the national meeting of writers
Historic and colonial architecture is still preserved, with houses of bareque and tapia tread, which are accompanied by innumerable stories, tradition, large balconies, colorful gates, and mud roofs. Among many others, there is the Casa de los Téllez, the building of the Hospital la Misericordia, and the structure of the Rafael Uribe Uribe school.
In 1999, the city was partially destroyed as a result of an earthquake, which affected the department. This made the city lose part of the architectural heritage.
Geography
The municipality of Calarcá is located between 4° 20’ 40” and 4° 33’ 50” north and between 75° 33’ 40” and 75° 48’ 40” west. The inner city is located 4° 33’ 0.6” north and 75° 39’ 00” west. It lies in the Andean zone flanking the Central Cordillera, east of the department of Quindío in the centre-western part of the country, within the area known as the Eje Cafetero ("Coffee Axis"). Calarcá is bordered by the municipalities of
The municipality has an area of 219.23 km2. Urban area is 2.44 km2. Rural area is 216.79 km2. It varies in altitude between 1000 m above sea level at the confluence of the Quindío y Barragán rivers to 3667 m above sea level in the El Campanario highland area.
Climate
Calarcá has
| Climate data for Calarcá (Bella La), elevation 1,450 m (4,760 ft), (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.6 (78.1) |
25.9 (78.6) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.1 (77.2) |
25.0 (77.0) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.9 (78.6) |
26.3 (79.3) |
25.6 (78.1) |
24.6 (76.3) |
24.7 (76.5) |
25.1 (77.2) |
25.4 (77.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.6 (69.1) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.7 (69.3) |
20.6 (69.1) |
20.9 (69.6) |
21.1 (70.0) |
21.2 (70.2) |
20.4 (68.7) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.9 (67.8) |
20.2 (68.4) |
20.6 (69.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) |
16.4 (61.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
16.7 (62.1) |
16.6 (61.9) |
16.4 (61.5) |
16.1 (61.0) |
16.2 (61.2) |
16.0 (60.8) |
16.0 (60.8) |
16.1 (61.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
16.2 (61.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 166 (6.5) |
137.8 (5.43) |
229.9 (9.05) |
253.0 (9.96) |
203.9 (8.03) |
85.0 (3.35) |
67.6 (2.66) |
86.5 (3.41) |
140.8 (5.54) |
253.7 (9.99) |
313.1 (12.33) |
222.3 (8.75) |
2,159.5 (85.02) |
| Average relative humidity (%)
|
81 | 80 | 80 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 77 | 77 | 81 | 83 | 83 | 82 | 81 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 130.2 | 115.7 | 133.3 | 99.0 | 108.5 | 126.0 | 145.7 | 148.8 | 120.0 | 99.2 | 108.0 | 130.2 | 1,464.6 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
| Source: Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales[4] | |||||||||||||
Economy
Just like in others towns in the Quindío, the economy is based on
Climbing
Peñas Blancas (English: white cliffs) consists of a
The cliffs are a landmark of the region, and can be seen clearly from the nearby towns of Armenia and Calarcá. They offer opportunities for
Notable inhabitants
- Luis Vidales (1904–1990) Poet and writer
- Baudilio Montoya Poet
- Francisco Noe Torres Rincon Artist
- Octavio Guzmán Bahen Physicist
- Noel Estrada Roldan Poet
- Fabio Botero Cartoonist
- Hernando Jiménez Sánchez Artist
- Olga Lucia Roldan Artist
- Gloria Cecilia Díaz Writer
- Jaime Lopera Gutierrez Writer
- Lucelly García de Montoya Politician
- Jairo Ramon Pelaez Cartoonist
- Jairo Alvarez Osorio Cartoonist
- Carlos A. Villegas U.o Writer
- Laura del Sol Jiménez, Flutist
- Luisa Fernanda Gonzalez, Nurse
References
Lopera Gutiérrez, Jaime, La Colonización del Quindío.
Loaiza Piedrahita, Oscar (2004), Los corredores del tiempo: Guía turística por la historia del Quindío.
External links
- Official web page of the city council (in Spanish) Archived 2020-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Quindío Botanical Garden (in Spanish)
References
- ^ Telefónicas, Telencuestas-Encuestas. "Cuántos habitantes tiene Calarcá, Quindío en 2023". Telencuestas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-27.
- ^ "Coffee Cultural Landscape". UNESCO World Heritage List. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 25 Apr 2011.
- ^ "CALARCA - Gobernación del Quindio". quindio.gov.co (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-27.
- ^ "Promedios Climatológicos 1981–2010" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
| Population over 50,000 |  | |
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| Population over 20,000 |
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| Population under 20,000 | ||