Sáchica
title: "Sáchica" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["municipalities-of-boyacá-department", "populated-places-established-in-1556", "1556-establishments-in-the-spanish-empire", "populated-places-of-the-muisca-confederation", "muisca-archaeological-sites", "rock-art-in-south-america"] topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sáchica" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Sáchica |
| nickname | City of onions |
| settlement_type | Municipality and town |
| image_skyline | Iglesia Sáchica.jpg |
| image_caption | Church of Sáchica |
| image_flag | Flag of Sáchica (Boyacá).svg |
| image_seal | Escudo_de_sachica_vectorizado.png |
| image_map | Colombia - Boyaca - Sachica.svg |
| mapsize | 250px |
| map_caption | Location of the municipality and town of Sáchica in the Boyacá Department of Colombia |
| pushpin_mapsize | 300 |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Colombia |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Colombia |
| subdivision_type1 | Department |
| subdivision_name1 | Boyacá Department |
| subdivision_type2 | Province |
| subdivision_name2 | Ricaurte Province |
| leader_title | Mayor |
| leader_name | Hugo Buitrago |
| (2020-2023) | |
| established_title | Founded |
| established_date | 16 July 1556 |
| founder | Juan Velasco and Carlos Rojas |
| area_total_km2 | 62.4 |
| population_as_of | 2015 |
| population_total | 3791 |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| population_urban | 1875 |
| coordinates | |
| timezone | Colombia Standard Time |
| utc_offset | -5 |
| elevation_m | 2150 |
| website | |
| :: |
|name = Sáchica |native_name = |nickname = City of onions |motto = |settlement_type = Municipality and town |image_skyline = Iglesia Sáchica.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Church of Sáchica |image_flag = Flag of Sáchica (Boyacá).svg |image_seal = Escudo_de_sachica_vectorizado.png |image_map = Colombia - Boyaca - Sachica.svg |mapsize = 250px |map_caption = Location of the municipality and town of Sáchica in the Boyacá Department of Colombia |pushpin_map = |pushpin_mapsize = 300 |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Colombia |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Colombia |subdivision_type1 = Department |subdivision_name1 = Boyacá Department |subdivision_type2 = Province |subdivision_name2 = Ricaurte Province |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Hugo Buitrago (2020-2023) |established_title = Founded |established_date = 16 July 1556 |founder = Juan Velasco and Carlos Rojas |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = 62.4 |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_km2 = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_km2 = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |population_as_of = 2015 |population_note = |population_total = 3791 |population_density_km2 = auto |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = 1875 |coordinates = |timezone = Colombia Standard Time |utc_offset = -5 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |elevation_m = 2150 |elevation_ft = |website = |footnotes = Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately 34 km west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira in the south and in the west Ráquira and Sutamarchán.
Renowned for its unique cultural and social habits, Sáchica is known as the national capital of onions and its remarkable beer consumption. According to a report by El Tiempo, Sáchica holds the distinction of being the town with the highest per capita beer consumption in Colombia.
History
In the centuries before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, Sáchica was ruled by a cacique loyal to the zaque of Hunza. Evidence of long inhabitation has been found in the form of petroglyphs made by the Muisca who were organized in the Muisca Confederation. The Muisca had their own religion where their main gods were Sué (the Sun) and Chía; the Moon. In Sáchica monuments to both celestial bodies have been constructed.
Modern Sáchica was founded on July 16, 1556, by Juan Velasco and Carlos Rojas. In 1574 a total of 2500 indigenous people were living in Sáchica, presently only 5% is indigenous, the remainder mestizo.
In the Chibcha language of the Muisca, Sáchica means "our present domain", "fortress" or "mansion of the sovereign".
Rock art
In a rock shelter in Sáchica, rock art in the form of pictographs has been discovered. The archaeologist Eliécer Silva Celis pioneered in the study of them in the 1960s. Later research has been performed by Carl Henrik Langebaek, Diego Martínez, Álvaro Botiva, Pedro Argüello García, and others. The black, red and white rock art is present at an altitude of 2210 m at and shows human faces, Suns, maize, eyes, mountains, masks, and other figures. The rock art has been produced in rock shelters of Lower Cretaceous formations.
Paleontology
Fossilized skeleton of pliosaurid Sachicasaurus vitae almost 10 m long was found in the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) deposits near Sáchica. The generic name of this animal refers to Sáchica while the species epithet is meaning "life" in reference to "the vitality that this fossil has given to the Sáchica village since its discovery". Despite its large size, the found individual of Sachicasaurus is not an adult.
The ichthyosaur Platypterygius sachicarum (now Kyhytysuka sachicarum), found in the Paja Formation of Villa de Leyva, has also been named after Sáchica.
Economy
Sachiquense economy is based on religious tourism, agriculture; onions and tomatoes, and mining; gypsum, marble and clay.
Gallery
File:11 Iglesia de Sáchica Boyacá.JPG|Central square and church File:Parque Sáchica.JPG|Central square File:Gondava panorámica.jpg|Gondava Lake File:13 Monumento parque de Sáchica Boyacá.JPG|Monument to the Sun File:Sáchica, alegoría a la luna.JPG|Monument to the Moon
| image = File:Sachica panoramica.JPG | height = 200 | caption =
References
Bibliography
References
- {{in lang. es [http://www.sachica-boyaca.gov.co/informacion_general.shtml Official website Sáchica] - accessed 07-05-2016
- Jiménez, Cristian Camilo Ávila. (2017-05-09). "Así es la vida en Sáchica, el pueblo que más bebe cerveza en Colombia".
- {{in lang. es [http://www.excelsio.net/2011/11/sabe-el-origen-del-nombre-de-su.html Etymology Sáchica] - accessed 07-05-2016
- {{in lang. es [http://www.rupestreweb.info/pictografiassachica.html Las pictografias de Sáchica desde las narraciones orales de sus vecinos] - Rupestreweb
- Silva Celis, 1962, p.12
- (2018). "A new large pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Sáchica, Boyacá, Colombia". Earth Sciences Research Journal.
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