Bacatá
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Bacatá Muyquytá or Muequetá |
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|---|---|
| Main seat of the zipa | |
| Etymology: Muysccubun: "(enclosure) outside of the farmfields" | |
 Map of the Muisca Confederation |
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 Bacatá
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| Coordinates: 4°42′59″N 74°12′44″W / 4.71639°N 74.21222°WCoordinates: 4°42′59″N 74°12′44″W / 4.71639°N 74.21222°W | |
| Former country | Muisca Confederation |
| Zipazgo | Bacatá |
| Populated | Herrera Period |
| Founded by | Muisca |
| Government | |
| • Zipa |
Tisquesusa († 1537) Sagipa († 1539) |
| Elevation | 2,550 m (8,370 ft) |
| Geography |
Bogotá savanna Altiplano Cundiboyacense Eastern Ranges Colombian Andes |
Bacatá is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referreing to the modern settlement of Funza, in the centre of the savanna. Bacatá, alternatively written as Muequetá or Muyquytá, was the main seat of the zipa, the ruler of the Bogotá savanna and adjacent areas. The name of the Colombian capital, Bogotá, is derived from Bacatá, but founded as Santafe de Bogotá in the western foothills of the Eastern Hills in a different location than the original settlement Bacatá, west of the Bogotá River, eventually named after Bacatá as well.
The word is a combination of the Muysccubun words bac, ca and tá, and means "(enclosure) outside of the farmfields", referring to the rich agricultural lands of the Sabana Formation on the Bogotá savanna. Bacatá was submitted to the Spanish Empire by the conquistadors lead by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada on April 20, 1537. Santafe de Bogotá, the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada, was formally founded on August 6, 1538. The last zipa of an independent Bacatá was Tisquesusa, who died after being stabbed by a Spanish soldier. His brother, Sagipa, succeeded him and served as last zipa under Spanish rule.
The name Bacatá is maintained in the highest skyscraper of Colombia, BD Bacatá, and in the important fossil find in the Bogotá Formation; Etayoa bacatensis.
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Wikipedia