Caloto

Caloto lies in the northern Cauca valley, between the Colombian Andes and the lands of the Nasa people. Spanish conquest brought repeated conflict to this region, where Indigenous communities resisted attempts to impose colonial rule. A settlement was founded in 1543 on the orders of Sebastián de Belalcázar, and its inhabitants later moved the town several times before it reached its lasting site.

Under the name Nueva Segovia de San Esteban de Caloto, the town became a colonial centre for the surrounding valley. Estates and gold production drew on the labour of Indigenous and enslaved African people, while Nasa communities maintained their presence in the nearby mountains. In 1811 Caloto joined the confederation of Cauca valley towns formed against the royalist governor of Popayán, taking part in the political struggles that preceded independence.