Sinu

The Sinú River flows north from the Paramillo mountains across the Caribbean lowlands. Its valley was part of the Zenú world, whose inhabitants were renowned for goldwork and for the management of flood-prone lands. Riverbanks, marshes and savannas supported communities long before Spanish settlements appeared.

In 1777 Antonio de la Torre y Miranda founded San Jerónimo de Buenavista on the Sinú, the settlement later known as Montería. He acted under orders from the governor of Cartagena to gather dispersed inhabitants into towns. The river remained the central feature of the valley, linking the new settlement with lands upstream and the Caribbean coast downstream. The governor’s programme also reached communities in the neighbouring San Jorge basin, reshaping the pattern of settlement across the lowlands.

The later city of Montería lies here.