The Athens South American Refers to the city of Bogotá, capital of the Department of Cundinamarca and the Republic of Colombia.
This denomination of South American Athens was granted to Bogota during century XIX, by the international cultural community. In some versions the Frenchman Pierre d'Espagnat and the Argentinean Miguel Cané As responsible for this designation.
Visiting the Colombian capital, both were amazed by the cultural, artistic and scientific richness of Bogota at that time and compared it with the renowned Athens, a city that has stood out in history for its greatness in these areas.
Other versions attribute the denomination of South American Athens to the German scientist Alexander Von Humboldt , Who was in the 19th century conducting research in the capital. During this period he was astonished by the diversity of cultural and scientific institutions that were located there.
Institutions of great renown as the Academy of Language in America, inaugurated in 1871 in Bogota, being the first headquarters in the continent, attest to the great cultural, artistic and scientific capital that the city possessed. Also the Ateneo Hall, an institution founded in 1884 with similar purposes as organizing gatherings on theater, literature and music.
La Atenas Suramericana: culture, art and science
The Colombian capital was called the South American Athens thanks to the great cultural, artistic and scientific diversity that it housed. The city, since the 19th century, has progressively been erected as an epicenter of all those cultural, scientific and artistic manifestations, including literature, theater, botany and music.
It has different scenarios in which not only the capital, but also national and international tourists.
In addition, Bogotá has places dedicated to science and education, such as Maloka, a non-profit corporation that seeks, among other things, to improve citizen culture and promote the social appropriation of science, technology and innovation.
Culture in the 19th century
The South American Athens was not always a cosmopolitan and diverse city. During the nineteenth century, Bogotá was relatively isolated from the rest of the country because of the lack of adequate transportation and communication.
However, this did not prevent cultural, scientific and artistic activities. The Botanical Expedition , Name with which the company initiated by the Archbishop-virrey Caballero and Góngora , Aimed to expand the scientific knowledge of nature in America.
It was one of the first samples of scientific development in the New Kingdom region of Granada. This expedition was under the direction of the scientist and botanist José Celestino Mutis And was developed until 1816. The Botanical Expedition had as its headquarters the city of Bogota, well-known at that time like Santa Fe.
During the last decades of the nineteenth century literary gatherings were frequent, accompanied by theater or opera performances.
At that time Athens South American had two theaters: The Christopher Columbus Theater and the Municipal Theater, both founded in the 1890s.
These scenarios, added to other entities, were conforming what is nowadays recognized as the cultural and artistic panorama of the city.
It was common at that time that in the gatherings and meetings the customs and traditions of the colonial era, combined with some European influences, were maintained. The typical meeting meal was ajiaco, a soup that includes various ingredients such as potatoes or legumes chopped into pieces, along with small pieces of meats.
In the meetings, in addition, chocolate was offered with collages and homemade sweets, all this accompanied by music played in piano.
Cultural advances in the 20th century
For the twentieth century, the cultural diversity of Bogota was developing more and more. Some colonial traditions were left behind and capital life was accelerated thanks to growth not only demographic but cultural, ethnic, racial, but mainly due to the development of the media.
The population in the capital tripled, from 700,000 inhabitants in 1951 to 2,500,000 in 1973. All this added up resulted in a very diverse and culturally rich city.
Cultural and artistic offerings today
At present, in the city of Bogota exists a great variety of scenarios and cultural, educational, scientific and artistic offers among which we can emphasize:
World Book Capital
Each year UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) awards the title of World Book Capital to a city on the planet.
In 2007, UNESCO declared the city of Bogotá as the World Book Capital in recognition of the quality of the programs developed there in the areas of dissemination and promotion of reading, promotion and growth of the publishing industry and Promotion of literature.
This recognition was awarded to the Athens South American thanks to the quality and quantity of programs that promote all the aforementioned aspects and the potential impact of them in society. An impact that occurs at regional, national and international level. In 2018, the World Book Capital will be Athens, Greece.
Corferias
The International Business and Exhibition Center of Bogotá, Corferias, is a private entity that seeks to promote cultural, industrial, social and commercial progress not only in the city but also in the Andean region, the Caribbean and Central America.
Corferias has a fairground with 17 pavilions in which different activities are carried out throughout the year.
Among the cultural activities that take place are the International Book Fair of Bogotá (FILBO), Expo artesanías and the Ibero-American Theater Festival.
In addition to these cultural events, in Corferias there are many musical concerts including Elton John, Fonseca, Soda Stereo, Ricky Martin, Disclosure or Juan Luis Guerra, among others.
In addition to all this, the Campus Party, an event of innovation, computing, technology, science and digital leisure is also carried out.
Bogotá International Book Fair
It is an event open to the public in which more than 500,000 people gather for 14 days around literature, the publishing industry, the wholesale and retail of books and the promotion of reading.
This event has been held since 1987 and each year has a guest country, usually an Ibero-American country. During the International Book Fair in Bogotá, more than 1,200 events take place, with the participation of literary authors and critics from all over the world.
Expoartesanías
It is one of the main craft fairs in Latin America. Through it, it seeks to promote the preservation of the traditions, crafts and techniques of manufacture of high quality artisan products related to the culture and tradition of Colombia.
It also functions as a platform for rapprochement between producers, buyers and all those interested in the manufacture of handicrafts.
Ibero-American Theater Festival
It stands as one of the largest cultural events in the world. The Festival was founded by Fanny Mikey Y Ramiro Osorio In 1988, during the celebration of the 450 years of Bogota.
During the days of the Festival, around 300 international and national theater companies gather and more than 800 functions are presented in different venues throughout the city, among which are the Simón Bolívar Park and Corferias.
Festivals to the Park
In Bogota, around 9 festivals are held in the park. These are free events mostly, developed in the Simón Bolívar Park. Admission is free and open to the public.
Park festivals came into existence in 1994 with the creation of Rock al Parque, one of the largest outdoor festivals in the world, attended by around 400,000 people, not only from Colombia but also from other countries and continents.
In this festival the music focuses on rock, reggae, punk and metal. Among the artists who have participated in the Rock to the Park are Fito Páez, Molotov and Andrés Calamaro.
In addition to Rock to the Park are also made Salsa to the Park, Jazz to the Park, Salsa to the Park, Hip Hop to the Park, Opera to the Park and Colombia to the Park, the latter dedicated only to the musical manifestations of the country.
Stereo Picnic
Created in 2010, the Festival Stereo Picnic is a musical event that brings together artists from all over the planet. It is a private event where you can also enjoy food and cultural events.
For three days, festival goers can choose from three different stages in which there are presentations of rock, pop, electronic and indie.
Bogota, history, limits and climate
The city of Bogota is officially known as Bogota Distrito Capital (Bogota D.C, in abbreviated form), although in former times, during the Spanish rule and later in the 1990s, it was known as Santa Fe de Bogota. About eight million people live in its territory.
It is located in the department of Cundinamarca, in the Andean region, specifically in the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. It forms part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, which includes regions of Cundinamarca and the department of Boyacá.
The Athens South American has an approximate extension of 33 kilometers from south to north and 16 kilometers from east to west.
It is located at 2600 meters above sea level, which implies moderately low temperatures, around 14 degrees Celsius in average.
For several months a year and thanks to its location in the area of intertropical confluence, two rainy periods occur in the city. The first takes place during the months of March, April and May and the second in the months of September, October and November. In these times temperatures drop by a few degrees more.
The city is considered a territorial entity of the first order and stands as administrative, political, cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, industrial and economic epicenter of Colombia. This is due to the different entities, companies, conglomerates and guilds that reside in the city.
The first settlers of the territorial zone that conforms Bogotá were the Muis . It was an indigenous farming tribe that had about half a million inhabitants, attached to the Chibcha linguistic family.
At the time of the arrival of the conquerors, the Muiscas inhabited the land between the Sumapaz Massif and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, with an area of 25,000 square kilometers.
Later, due to the slogan of founding and populating by the conquerors, the explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Decided to create an urban settlement where they could reside and govern in a stable way.
This settlement was located in a town called Teusaquillo. At present this place stands as the locality number 13 of the Capital District of Bogota.
The foundation of Bogotá was held on August 6, 1538, at a Mass celebrated by the priest Fray Domingo de las Casas In a rudimentary church located in what is now known as the Santander Park.
The city was named Santa Fe and the region New Kingdom of Granada. It is necessary to clarify that there is no official record of the foundation of the South American Athens.
Thanks to the conquering influence on the original settlers of this territory, religion became organized by the religious orders of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and later the Jesuits and the Capuchins, among others. The presence and power of these communities marked the people of the area.
The time of the conquest lasted until 1815, the year during which the independence revolts began a movement that culminated in 1819 with the War of Independence and the liberating campaign directed by Simon Bolivar Y Francisco de Paula Santander .
References
- UNESCO World Book Capital. (2007) Bogotá World Book Capital. Obtained from en.unesco.org.
- Campus Party (February 2017) Feel the future. Retrieved from campus-party.org.
- Carlos Rincón. Javeriana university. "Bogotá, Athens of South America". (2003) Retrieved from"javeriana.edu.co.
- Mayor's Office of Bogotá. General Secretary. "History"(May 03, 2015) Obtained from bogota.gov.co.
- Mayor's Office of Bogotá. General Secretary. "City Location"(October 7, 2015) Obtained from bogota.gov.co.
- "What is Corferias"(February 2017) Retrieved from"corferias.com".
- Ibero-American Theater Festival. "History. The Festival"An Act of Faith. (February 2017) Retrieved from festivaldeteatro.com.