Calarcá - Calarcá

Calarcá is a municipality Colombian belonging to the department of Quindio. It was founded in 1886 by Segundo Henao during the Antioquia Colonization. It is the second population with the largest number of inhabitants in the department, after the capital. It limits the north with Salento, west and northwest with Armenia, to the south with Cordova, and to the east with the department of Tolima.

It has two townships, La Virginia and Barcelona (From this, the possibility of promoting it to the category of Municipality) and two hamlets, Río Verde and Quebradanegra. It is four kilometers from the capital Armenia and it is part of his Metropolitan area.

Calarcá derives its name from the legendary Cacique Calarcá, an indigenous Pijao who inhabited the neighboring area of ​​current Tolima, which is why the municipality is known as The Villa of the Cacique; too Cradle of Poets, by its outstanding authors, such as Luis Vidales or Baudilio Montoya, that is why the city is the headquarters of the National Meeting of Writers.^[1]

It is a coffee-growing municipality, therefore its economy is based on tourism, agriculture and to a lesser extent on livestock. It is also the headquarters of the National Coffee Festival, where the National Coffee Reign, the Yipao Parade and the artisan samples are celebrated.^[2]

Understand

Location

In the department of Quindio, the city is located between 4º 20 ’40” and 4º 33 ’50” north latitude and between 75º 33 ’40” and 75º 48 ’40” west longitude. The urban area is located at 4º 33 ’0.6” north latitude and 75º 39 ’00” west longitude. It has a territorial extension of 21 923 hectares, of which 244 ha are urban and 21 679 ha correspond to the rural sector. It has altitudes that vary from 1 000 m s. n. m. at the confluence of the Quindío and Barragán rivers, up to 3,667 m s. n. m. in the «Alto de El Campanario». The city is located at an average altitude of 1m s. n. m. 573 m s. n. m. It has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, has a varied climate with temperatures that fluctuate according to the thermal levels, between 22ºC and 4ºC, depending on the influence of solar rays and rain. Its average temperature is 20 ºC. The rainfall varies between 1700 and 2400 m per year. The relative humidity of the air is high and stable, being approximately 85%.

The territory is broken, and its relief corresponds to the central mountain range of the Andes. Due to its topography it has 3 thermal floors: warm, cold and moor, thanks to this in its soil 3 landscapes contrast: the moor of the mountain range, the prolongation of the dense valleys of the Cauca and the rugged coffee geography. Thanks to its variety of climates, the lands are used for cattle raising, the cultivation of fruit trees, bananas, coffee and, in general, various agricultural products; currently has a complete system of aqueduct, electrification and urban and rural telephony.

Weather

Its average temperature is between 19 ° C-24 ° C

Culture

The architecture of the Antioquia colonization it is still in force in various sectors of the downtown area. Some memorial houses have a short text that tells a little about the history of each building. The municipal mayor's office and the Palace of Justice are an example of the colorful houses with a characteristic style of the Antioquia colonization, also on Carrera 23 are located some of the best preserved houses in the municipality. Likewise, the municipal administration carries out improvements and periodic maintenance to the buildings, which are municipal patrimony, built between 1887 and 1930, and for their construction it was used wattle coated with cement. They are generally square in shape with a central courtyard, with large lounges, corridors and bedrooms.^[3]

• Antioquia architecture
• 

  Calle 40 with Carrera 23.

• 

  courthouse

• 

  House of the Kings (Carrera 23 with Calle 38)

House of Culture

One of the most representative buildings of the city is the House of Culture, considered Cultural Heritage of the municipality. In it, forums, seminars, workshops, debates and conferences of the different unions committed to the development of the region and the country are held. It has also been the free space in which candidates for government corporations have shown the city their government programs.

National Coffee Festival

On the anniversary of the city, which takes place every year in June, the National Coffee Festival, Or simply, Calarcá Festivities, which have a duration of one month. During this festivity, the National Coffee Reign, parades, handicraft samples, leisure stalls, parties and food are celebrated. In Carrera 25 the discos and bars are extended to the edge of the sidewalks; and Carrera 25 is used as a pedestrian street approximately from Calle 48, (Colegio Robledo) to Calle 35.

Yipao parade

Since 1988, the celebration of the National Coffee Festival concludes with Yipao parade, a display of off-road vehicles from the decades of the 40 Y 50 called Jeep willys. Yipao comes from the english pronunciation by «Jepp» [ˈDʒiːp]. The Jeeps -or yipes- came to Colombia from the United States after the WWII and due to their good adaptation to the mountainous soil of the coffee zone, they quickly adapted to the local culture, they are even known as the Mechanical mule.^[4]

The parade is a row of around 200 vehicles Template: Cr The exhibition is also a contest organized by the mayor's office, which awards financially in the categories of Coffee loading, Traditional agricultural cargo, Peasant fret or chorus, Arts and crafts and the Traditional chop.^[5][6]

To get

By plane

El Eden Airport

By train

By bus

• Armenia Transport Terminal

By car

Travel

By bus

In taxi

By car

Watch

To eat

Paisa Tray, Sancocho, Arepa with Cheese, Empanadas, Buñuelos, Pandebonos

Drink and go out

Sleep