Purace

Purace lies in the mountainous country between the upper Magdalena valley and the southern Colombian Andes. The nearby La Plata valley became the site of a Spanish settlement in a region long inhabited by Indigenous communities. La Plata was founded in 1551 amid interest in the silver deposits that gave the town its name. Conflict with Indigenous peoples disrupted the settlement, and it was re-established in 1651. Mountain routes linked the valley with Popayán and the upper Magdalena.