Suesca

Suesca
Municipality and town
Central square of Suesca
Flag
Location of the municipality and town inside Cundinamarca Department of Colombia
Country	Colombia
Department	Cundinamarca
Province	Almeidas Province
Founded	14 March 1537
Founded by	Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Government
• Mayor	Orlando Quilaguy Mestizo (2016-2019)
Area
• Municipality and town	177 km2 (68 sq mi)
Elevation	2,584 m (8,478 ft)
Population (2015)
• Municipality and town	17,318
• Density	98/km2 (250/sq mi)
• Urban	8,567
Time zone	Colombia Standard Time (UTC-5)
Website	Official website

Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at 59 kilometres (37 mi) north from the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and is a scenic countryside town which is well known because its landscape attracts devotees of rock climbing, trekking, and rafting. It is surrounded by dairy farms and flower plantations. The municipality borders Cucunubá and Lenguazaque in the north, Sesquilé in the south, Chocontá in the east and Nemocón and Gachancipá in the west.

The name Suesca is derived from the Chibcha word Suejica, Sueica or Suesuca, which means "Rock of the birds" or "Tail of the macaw".

Suesca was inhabited early in the of the Altiplano and the rock shelters formed the site for semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers of the Herrera and preceramic periods.

Before the Spanish conquest, Suesca was part of the Muisca Confederation. The cacique of Guatavita ruled over Suesca, the village close to the sacred Lake Guatavita and containing Lake Suesca where rituals were held. Suesca formed an important centre on the trade road to Boyacá, ruled by the zaque of Hunza. The merchants took carbon and salt on their way to the north. Every four days a market was held in Suesca. Suesca was also an important settlement for the pottery made by the Muisca.