Medellín - Medellín

Disambiguation - For toponyms of identical name, see Medellín (disambiguation).

Medellín is a city of Colombia, located in the Andean region.

To know

Geographical notes

Medellín is located in the center of the Aburrá valley crossed by the Medellín river and its tributaries. The valley has a somewhat elongated shape with an approximate length of 60 kilometers and a maximum width of about 10 km. The valley features several reliefs including the Nutibara and El Volador hills that rise in the middle of the city. Its altitude varies from 1,300 to 2,800 m a.s.l.

Medellín stands on a sloping plateau that gradually descends to 1500m. The mountain ranges that surround the city have several peaks over 2,500 meters. The maximum peak is Alto Padre Amaya which reaches 3100 m a.s.l. followed by Alto Patio Bonito (2750 m.), Alto Boquerón (2600 m.), Alto Venteadero (2500 m.) and Alto Las Cruces (2400 m.)

When to go

The proximity to the equatorial line and the high altitudes mean that Medellín has a subtropical monsoon climate of temperate and humid character. The nickname "city of eternal spring" derives from the scarce annual excursions recorded. The periods with the least rainfall occur between December and February and between June and July and these are the best months for a visit. It should be noted that between June and July the temperatures are slightly above the annual average and oscillate between 27 ° C and 31 ° C during the day, with an absolute maximum recorded of 33.2 ° C.

However, clear skies are a rarity in Medellín and even in the driest months the clouds do not fail to peep. The insolation rate is relatively low: an average of 5 or 6 hours of sunshine per day.

Medellín rarely experiences strong winds thanks to the high mountains that surround it and which constitute a natural barrier against violent climatic phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña that influence the climate of the nearby Pacific coast. The wind regime is mostly determined by the trade winds that blow over the Caribbean Sea and break through the Andean valleys.

Background

In pre-Columbian times, the Aburrá valley was inhabited by different tribes who lived by hunting and gathering wild fruits. Over time they developed rudimentary farming techniques and planted crops of corn, peanuts and beans. They knew the art of weaving and the goldsmith.

The Spanish colonists expropriated the lands of the indigenous people without encountering resistance and divided them into encomiendas but these abuses resulted in the decimation of the natives in the space of a few years.

Finding itself short of manpower, the Spanish colony could not develop. A few years later the first masonry church dedicated to the Virgen de la Candelaria was built and since then the colonial settlement has been called "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Aná". 54 years after its founding, the colony barely counted 700 inhabitants.

From the 1786 census it emerged that the inhabited area consisted of 242 one-storey houses and of these only 29 had a balcony. However, public sanitation works were undertaken and running water was brought into the houses. Public education was also improved with the opening of new schools and new avenues of communication with Bogota. These enlightenment measures carried out by the representative of the Spanish crown Juan Antonio Mon y Velarde, gave impetus to agricultural production and the mining industry, as well as to trade.

On 21 August 1813 Medellín was elevated to the rank of city and in 1826 it was named the capital of Antioquia; it had 6050 inhabitants in that year.

The economic take-off of the city occurred in the second half of the 19th century. The first bridge over the Medellín river was built in 1846. In 1868 the offices of the diocese were moved from Santa Fe de Antioquia to Medellín and soon afterwards the construction of the metropolitan cathedral was undertaken. In 1871 the Banco de Antioquia was opened followed by other credit institutions, the Banco de Medellín in 1881, the Banco Popular in 1882 and the Banco del Comercio in 1896.

By 1938 Medellín had grown from 20,000 inhabitants in 1870 to 140,000. The city had established itself as a center of the coffee, tobacco and precious metals trade. It also included several precious metal foundries, tobacco tanneries and numerous textile factories that made use of the abundance of water in the valley.

The urban renewal of Medellín dates back to the second half of the 20th century, entrusted to a team of Colombian and international architects such as the German Paul Lester Wiener (1895-1967), a pupil of Le Corbusier and the Austrian Federico Blodek (1905-2001) who designed the skyscrapers of Suramericana and Banco de Colombia. The urban plan, which involved, among other things, the creation of the industrial area of ​​Guayabal and the administrative center "La Alpujarra", was soon overwhelmed by the reality of a population that tripled in 20 years, from 358,189 inhabitants in 1951 to 1,071. 252 in 1973.

Insane of campesinos they flocked to the city to work in factories. Not having access to credit, i newcomers they undertook the construction of temporary dwellings on the slopes of the mountains. While the reliefs became covered with shanty towns, the center took on a New York air. Many of the old buildings were demolished to make way for skyscrapers of which the 1972 Coltejer Center is still the symbol of Medellín.

The recession appeared in 1970. High unemployment rates led to an increase in crime. It was then that smuggling and drug trafficking appeared as a chance of survival to the thousands of people who had lost their jobs.

The Medellín cartel was created in 1976 and had, until the mid-1980s, direct penetration into all sectors of society. With the approval of the measures that allowed the extradition of Colombians to the United States, adopted by President Belisario Betancur after the murder of his Minister of Justice, the drug cartel organized itself to destabilize the state. The city suffered the full brunt of the struggle between narcoterrorism and the Colombian government: between 1980 and 1993 Medellín was full of criminal gangs and hired assassins. Its streets have been the scene of countless kidnappings and murders of judges and politicians.

Pablo Escobar's death in 1993 marked the end of the so-called Medellín cartel but left social conflicts open in the region. Guerrillas and paramilitary groups continued their armed activism creating a deep sense of social insecurity due to the influx of displaced people from the countryside.

Following the peace talks with the Colombian government in 2004-2006, several paramilitary organizations demobilized but at least four were still active in 2015. The latter included the Águilas Negras, Los Urabeños, Los Rastrojos or the Los Paisas group. These groups focus their operations across the country, trying to control the flow of drug smuggling to the Caribbean coast. The drug trafficking routes have shifted from Medellín to the departments of Córdoba and Sucre, where the drug is sold to larger organizations capable of exporting it to various countries around the world.

The need to put an end to urban violence has led the government to launch projects aimed at improving the quality of life in Medellín. In the most depressed neighborhoods, parks, sports fields and libraries have been created. Public transport has also been significantly increased with the implementation of projects such as Metroplús and Tranvía30. There has also been a proliferation of cultural and artistic events.

The 6-storey Monaco building where Pablo Escobar's family resided was blown up in 2019, perhaps because it annoyed that local agencies had included it on tours of the city's top attractions. The Nápoles estate continues to function as a theme park.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

Medellín is divided into 16 municipalities. Of these the most interesting for passing tourists are:

• La Candelaria - Corresponds to the historic center but it could be a mistake to select it for your accommodation.

• El Poblado - The area south of the center where the upper classes reside. It includes the Zona Rosa and the Milla de Oro where the trendy nightclubs are concentrated. El Poblado is the right area to choose accommodation.

• Laureles-Estadio - The area west of the center, preferred by the wealthy classes. It has some hotels, shopping centers and clubs of all kinds. There is the Atanasio Girardot sports area, around the stadium of the same name.

• Aranjuez - Area north of the center where the Jardín Botánico, the university city and museums of secondary interest.

How to get

By plane

• 6.167222-75.4266671 José María Córdova International Airport (IATA: MDE). The airlines operating at the airport as of 2020 were:

• Iberia
• American Airlines,
• Avianca
• Copa Airlines
• LATAM
• Spirit Airlines
• Insel Air
• Satena
• VivaColombia is a low cost airline.

Combuses connect the airport with the center where they terminate at the back of the Nutibara hotel, near the Parque Barrio metro station. This solution is the cheapest but also the one that implies the greatest expenditure of time depending on the traffic.  

• 6.219722-75.5902782 Olaya Herrera (IATA: EOH).  

By bus

Medellín has two intercity bus terminals operated by the same company and with a single website. Both terminals have medium-sized shopping malls.

• 6.27931-75.570723 Terminal del Norte (Caribe metro station). The larger of the two. Buses from Cartagena, Santa Marta and Bogotá terminate here 
• 6.2166-75.58684 Terminal Sur, Carrera 65 & Calle 10 (close to the Olaya Herrera airport terminal). Buses from Cali, Manizales, Pereira. 

How to get around

By public transport

The metro includes two lines:

• Line A (blue in color) is 25.8 km long and runs from north to south.
• Line B (orange) of just 5.5 km

Medellín was the first city in the world to incorporate a network of cableways into public transport. The system is called Metrocable and consists of five lines.

The reactivation of the tram line was announced in February 2020.

By taxi

There are numerous taxi companies that cover the entire metropolitan area. Normally the ride is booked by radio taxi also for safety reasons. THE colectivos, i.e. shared taxis carrying multiple passengers at a time is a tradition in Medellín as in many cities around the world and can only be stopped on the street. Several companies also provide rides from Medellín to other cities in the Colombia.

What see

Religious architectures

• 6.25398-75.563941 Cathedral (Catedral underground).  
• 6.249722-75.5672222 Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.  

Museums

• Museo de Antioquia (Nearest metro station Parque Berrío). Mon-Fri 10: 00-17: 00, Sat-Sun 10: 00-16: 00. Contemporary art collections including many works by Fernando Botero.  
• Universidad de Antioquia Museum, Calle 67 N ° 53-108 (Closest metro station Universidad), ☎ 57 4 219 5180. Free entry. Collections of visual arts, natural sciences, university history, anthropological. The latter are of the greatest interest as they come from archaeological finds, especially pre-Columbian ceramics, (almost 20,000 objects). The Galileo interactive room is available to the public. 
• Fernando González House Museum, 11 Avenida Fernando Gonzalez (Envigado nearest metro station), ☎ 57 4 276 1415. Mon-Sun 08: 00-18: 00, Sat Sun 09: 00-17: 00. Set up in the house where the writer from Medellín lived. 
• ^{[link not working]}Pedro Nel Gómez Museum (Closest metro stations Prado or Hospital), ☎ 57 4 233 2633. Free entry. Mon-Sat 09: 00-17: 00, Sun 10: 00-16: 00. 
• EPM Interactive Museum (Closest underground stations Alpujarra or Cisneros), ☎ 57 4 380 6950. Tue-Fri 08: 00-17: 30, Sat Sun 11: 00-17: 30. 
• Miguel Angel Builes Ethnographic Museum (1 km from Floresta metro station), ☎ 57 4 421 6259. Vast collections of everyday objects made by Colombian natives such as fabrics, jewelry, ceramics. 

Events and parties

• Flower festival (Feria de las Flores). August.  

What to do

Shopping

Shopping centers

• Parque Comercial El Tesoro, Cra. 25A # 1A Sur - 45 / Loma El Tesoro with Transversal Superior, ☎ 57 4 3211010. Mon-Sun 09: 00-23: 00. A large shopping center unusually located on the steep slope of a mountain above a crevasse at the bottom of which a stream flows. It includes many luxury shops, electronics stores and restaurants. It has an information center where tourists can get any information even in English 
• Oviedo commercial center, Av El Poblado Cr 43 A # 6 S 15, ☎ 57 4 311 6116. 
• San Diego commercial center, Calle 33 No 43 16 (At the intersection of Las Palmas avenues, Oriental avenue, San Diego avenue and 33 calle), ☎ 57 4 262 0105. The first shopping center opened in Medellín is still trendy. You will find good prices for first-rate items. 

• Premium Plaza, Carrera 43 A 30 - 25, ☎ 57 34 448 70 71, @[email protected]. Mon-Sun 10: 00-22: 00. Premium Plaza covers an area of ​​115,000 m2, with 1,427 and houses more than 350 shops. Inside there are five bank branches, cinemas with 3D screens, soccer fields, a gym, an amusement park, two areas reserved for restaurants and the largest casino in Medellín. 
• Monterrey (Comercial center), Avenida 62 (Carrera 48) x Calle 10 (Two blocks from the Poblado metro station). The right place to buy electronics, PCs, smartphones and accessories. There is also a cinema and a massage parlor. 
• Santa Fe shopping center, Cra 43 A # 7 sur - 170 (Av El Poblado & Loma los Balsos, 300 mts south of Oviedo), ☎ 57 4 460 0737, @[email protected]. Mon-Sun 10: 00-21: 00. Opened in May 2010, it has five floors.  

How to have fun

Shows

• Metropolitan Theater.  
• Pablo Tobón Uribe Theater.  

• Estadio Atanasio Girardot.  

Night clubs

The quintessential place for nightlife in Medellín is the Zona Rosa di El Poblado, also known as the "golden mile" (thousand of gold). Around 6.209035-75.5679781 Lleras park most of the premises are centralized, while others are located around the perimeter of the 6.210447-75.5710632 Parque del Poblado, not far away.

In the center, the so-called fuchsia area has established itself as opposed to the pink area of El Poblado. The premises of the fuchsia area are around the 6.249416-75.5619543 Parque del Periodista, are less sophisticated and frequented by urban tribes. Even the 6.22765-75.5732924 barrio Colombia it includes renowned places.

The upmarket neighborhood Laureles-Estadio has very pleasant nightclubs, mostly arranged along the6.239358-75.5873935 avenida 33 where the Unicorno shopping center is located and frequented by students from the nearby Pontifical Bolivarian University.

Residents have the habit, especially on weekends, of stopping in one of the many places along the6.198881-75.5467486 avenue Las Palmas where are the homonymous falls, but you need to have a car.

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

How to keep in touch

Around

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Medellín
• Commons contains images or other files on Medellín

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