Guayatá

Guayatá
Municipality and town
Flag
Location of the municipality and town of Guayatá in the Boyacá Department of Colombia
Country	Colombia
Department	Boyacá Department
Province	Eastern Boyacá Province
Founded	6 April 1821
Founded by	Andrés José Medina Narciso
Government
• Mayor	Benjamin Edilson Piñeros Alfonso (2016-2019)
Area
• Municipality and town	112 km2 (43 sq mi)
Elevation	1,767 m (5,797 ft)
Population (2015)
• Municipality and town	5,126
• Density	46/km2 (120/sq mi)
• Urban	1,302
Demonym(s)	Guayatuno/a
Time zone	Colombia Standard Time (UTC-5)
Website	Official website

Guayatá is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Guayatá is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at distances of 129 kilometres (80 mi) from the department capital Tunja and 132 kilometres (82 mi) from the national capital Bogotá. The urban centre is located at an altitude of 1,767 metres (5,797 ft) and the altitude ranges from 1,270 metres (4,170 ft) to 3,080 metres (10,100 ft).

The name Guayatá comes from Chibcha and is either a combination of tá; "land over there" or "farmfields" and Guaya, a creek running through Tenza of from Guaitá; "domain of the female cacique".

In the times before the Spanish conquest of the central highlands of the Colombian Andes, the area around Guayatá was inhabited by the Muisca. Organized in their loose Muisca Confederation, they were an advanced agricultural civilization. Within present-day Guayatá cotton was cultivated, important for the mantle making of the Muisca. Also feathers of hunted birds were traded in and around Guayatá.

At the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, in Guayatá money was found that consisted of small pieces of cloth, gold or emeralds. The golden disks used as money were not decorated yet plain. Knowledge about the Muisca in the early colonial period has been provided by friar Pedro Simón.

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Wikipedia