Stories of Pamplona, our epic town

And when you walk through the streets of Pamplona, those that reveal past stories through their grand houses and museums, in the architecture of their churches, and keep the memory of the Hulago alive in the imposing mountains rising from the beautiful Eastern Cordillera; they, who inhabited the lands of Norte de Santander 1,000 years B.C., left the present-day inhabitants a legacy of a hospitable and kind culture derived from the nature of their Chibcha-speaking settlement. These indigenous people, who by 1530 would receive the name Chitareros from their conquerors, would from that moment be forced to immerse themselves in a process of mestizaje and conquest due to the fact that their lands held the metal that would spark the greed of the Spanish…

Pamplona, named in honor of the capital of Navarre, the homeland of its founders Ortún Velazco de Velásques and Pedro de Ursúa, who established a colonial culture from Spain. On November 1, 1549, it was declared a city by royal decree; since this day coincided with the feast of All Saints, it took on the first of many titles: "Valley of the Holy Spirit."

From then on, the Spanish divided the city into blocks, a geographical structure that is still preserved today, replacing the huts of straw and wattle-and-daub. They began the construction of beautiful mansions and majestic ecclesiastical buildings that earned the city a new name, "Mitred City," due to the solemnity they imparted. The new residents of Pamplona, masters of the gold extracted from the hills of Santurbán and Vetas, began the evangelization and domination of the Hulago Valley. During this time, residents gave it another nickname, "Pamplonilla la loca" (Crazy Little Pamplona), due to the feverish spending and extravagance of the Spanish with the riches they took from the land.

On January 16, 1644, Pamplona suffered an earthquake that destroyed much of the colonial city. Although many mansions that were converted into museums or preserved by their owners still stand today, the chapels that survived the tremor were restored, and others, such as the Santa Clara Cathedral, were rebuilt.

The Spanish maintained their rule until July 4, 1810, when Doña Águeda Gallardo de Villamizar snatched the staff of office from one of the founders, triggering the heroic event that pushed the country toward revolution, which was taken up by Santa Fe de Bogotá on July 20 of the same year. For this, it received the title of "Patriot City" from the liberator Simón Bolívar. Subsequently, the city of mist would be the epicenter for those planning the battles that would give the country its total independence. These acts led to the Province of Pamplona being the birthplace of Colombia's first constitution, the "Constitution of Cúcuta of 1821."