Boyacá is a town and municipality in the Márquez Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is located approximately 15 km from the city of Tunja, the capital of the department. Boyacá limits Tunja and Soracá in the north, Jenesano in the south, Nuevo Colón and Ramiriquí in the west and Ventaquemada in the east.

Etymology

The name of both the municipality and the department, Boyacá, comes from Chibcha and means "Region of the blankets" or "Enclosure of the cacique".

History

Boyacá in the times before the Spanish conquest was ruled by the zaque of nearby Hunza, the ruler of the Muisca, who were organised in their loose Muisca Confederation. Modern Boyacá was founded on August 8, 1537, by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who was searching for the mythical El Dorado.

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