POPAYAN

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 81 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: POL-PRE

POPAYAN , a city of

Colombia

COLOMBIA

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the department of Cauca, about 240 M. S.W. of Bogota, on the old trade route between that city and Quito, in 2 26' N., 76 49' W. Pop. (1870), 8485; (1906, estimate), so,000. Popayan is built on a

great

GREAT

plain sloping N.W. from the foot of the volcano Purace, near the source of the Cauca and on one of its small tributaries, 5712 ft. above the sea. Its situation is singularly picturesque, the Purace rising to an

elevation

ELEVATION

of 15,42o ft. about 20 M. south-

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

of the city, the Sotara volcano to approximately the same height about the same distance . south by

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

, and behind these at a greater distance the Pan de Azucar, 15,978 ft. high. The

ridge

forming the water-parting between the basins of the Cauca and Patia rivers crosses between the Central and Western Cordilleras at this point and culminates a few miles to the south. Popayan is the seat of a bishopric dating from 1547, whose cathedral was built by the

Jesuits

JESUITS

; and in the days of its prosperity it possessed a university of considerable reputation. It has several old churches, a college, two seminaries founded about 187o by the French Lazarists, who have restored and occupy the old Jesuit convent, and a mint established in 1749. The city was at one time an important commercial and mining centre, but much of its importance was lost through the transfer of trade to Cali and Pasto, through the decay of neighbouring mining

industries

INDUSTRIES

, and through political disturbances. Earth-quakes have also caused much damage to Popayan, especially those of 1827 and 1834. The modern city has some small manufacturing

industries

INDUSTRIES

, including woollen fabrics for clothing, but its trade is much restricted, and its importance is political rather than commercial.
Popayan was founded by Sebastian Benalcazar in 1538 on the site of an Indian

settlement

SETTLEMENT
SETTLEMENT, ACT OF

, whose

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

, Payan, had the unusual honour of having his name given to the usurping town. In 1558 it received a coat of arms and the title of " Muy noble y muy leal " from the king of Spaina distinction of

great

GREAT

Minority Report.
significance in that disturbed period of colonial history. It is noted also as the birthplace of Caldas, the Colombian naturalist, and of Mosquera, the geographer. There are hot sulphurous springs near by on the flanks of the volcano Purace, especially at Coconuco, which are much frequented by Colombians.

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