Funza

Funza occupies the country of Bacatá on the Bogotá savanna, where the Muisca ruler known as the zipa held his principal seat. The high plain supported communities of farmers and traders whose networks reached beyond the surrounding mountains. Salt, textiles and gold objects circulated among the chiefdoms of the Andean highlands, while the Bogotá River and its wetlands crossed the fertile plain.

In 1537 Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada’s expedition reached Bacatá. The zipa Tisquesusa withdrew as the Spaniards entered, and the conquest brought destruction and new claims over Muisca land and labour. The colonial settlement of Santafé grew elsewhere on the savanna, while Funza remained associated with the earlier seat of the zipa. Its history preserves the connection between the Indigenous political centre and the profound changes brought by Spanish rule.