Zipaquirá

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Zipaquirá is a municipality of Colombia, in the department of Cundinamarca. It limits with the municipalities of Tausa and Cogua the North; Nemocón, Gachancipa and Sopó to the East; Cajicá and Tabio to the South; Subachoque and Pacho to the West, and its municipal head is to 49 kilometers of Santa Fe de Bogota D.C.

In Chibcha, the language of the Muiscas - the Indians in the area - it meant The Land of the Zipa. The Zipa was the king of this territory. Now the town is mostly known for its Salt Cathedral, an underground church built inside a salt mountain in a tunnel made as result of the exploitation of the 'salinas' (salt mines). Zipaquirá has a very interesting architecture, the old center is also a touristic attraction; its main square is surrounded by old buildings of Spanish Colonial style. This small city can be reached by train from Bogotá. In the years between 1955 and 1960 the author of this article lived in Bogota and visited Zipaquira several times. The city was at that time known as the "Manchester of Colombia" because of the many private salt refineries. The brine was sold to them by the state from the nearby saltmines and was evaporated in metal bowls on the top of semi-buried coal-fired ovens, that produced black smoke from the chimneys (hence the name "Manchester of Colombia") - Above the bowls were wooden poles connected crosswise. On these poles were baskets into which the crystallised salt was scooped until the basket was filled, then a second basket was placed on top of the filled basket, and so on. These private refineries were freely accessible. The Bogotanos used to visit them bringing raw potatoes with them to be cooked in the boiling brine.