Mayor Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo urges citizens to raise the Popayán flag in demonstration of love for their land.
By Aura Isabel Olano Correa
Also on Saturday, January 13, but in 1537 Popayán was founded by Captain Sebastián de Belalcázar, which gave him the title of Adelantado. This is an incontrovertible historical fact that can be analyzed from various perspectives, such as the imposition of power and the subjection of the community that inhabited that space, such as the indigenous people of Puben.
There are different versions about the site where the city was founded and where it began to be populated. Some historians point out that it was on the slopes of the La Eme or Tres Cruces hill. Others, however, maintain that it was in the main square, which today is known as Francisco José de Caldas, in honor of the Payan scientist, politician and military man.
This hypothesis may have a basis, because the cities founded by the Spanish were organized with a checkerboard plan and streets leading from the main square, where the Cabildo, the government, the cathedral, commerce and the houses of notables were located.
As for Popayán, in its first decade of foundation the Government was organized and the city began to be populated by Spaniards, mostly companions in arms of the conqueror Belalcázar. The natives did not easily give in to the Iberian vassalage and fought strong confrontations, as happened in other places in what is now the Republic of Colombia, for example the Muiscas in the Cundiboyacense plateau, indigenous people who had a great political, administrative, commercial and social organization, who were They were also goldsmiths and were one of the most advanced peoples in South America.
On July 25, 1538, Popayán was granted the title of City and in December 1546 Pope Paul III erected it as a Bishopric.
Popayán has a great indigenous and Spanish heritage, that is its genesis, which calls for respect, coexistence and inclusion. There is a very significant contribution from both cultures, a symbiosis that must move towards co-evolution to achieve healthy and peaceful development, without ignoring its history, since it is its essence.
Popayán, 487 of its foundation.
The newly inaugurated mayor, Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo, through video urged the inhabitants of the municipality, the representatives of public and private entities, to raise the Popayán flag this January 13, on the occasion of the city’s 487th birthday.
Flying the main symbol of Popayán is a gesture of commitment and love for this land, which requires the current president to carry out great management in favor of order, security, the return of public space for citizens, employment , formalization, preservation of architectural and artistic heritage, road development, social, economic and environmental progress. Lawyer Muñoz Bravo has a very great commitment to Popayán and its people, projecting the city with a vision of the future, without myopia, through a modern Territorial Planning Plan (POT) and preserving the historic sector with the implementation of the Planning Plan Territorial (PEMP), plans that were too big for his predecessor.
The incoming administration will celebrate Popayán’s 487th birthday with a simple program, as has been reported, that begins at 9:30 am, with a Eucharist in the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption; around 11:00 am, a floral offering to the wise Francisco José de Caldas; then in El Morro, at 12:30 m., another floral offering. The celebration concludes with Serenade to Popayán, in the Arcada de la Herrería, starting at 7:00 pm
Restored sculpture of the founder of Popayán, Sebastián de Belalcázar.
Regarding Morro, it is not yet known if the statue of the founder of Popayán, Sebastián de Belalcázar, which is at the Invías headquarters, returns to that site or is located elsewhere. The sculpture was restored, after being knocked down from its pedestal by a group of Misak indigenous people, in September 2020. Two years later, in September 2022, while Luis Miguel Zambrano was Secretary of Culture and Tourism of Popayán, the restorer Temístocles Suárez Rodríguez and his work group repaired this magnificent work of art, by the Spanish sculptor Victorio Macho. About this restoration, La Campana published a report, which can be found at