History of Cúcuta

Cúcuta is in an area which has been inhabited since pre-Columbian times. The current town is on land donated by Juana Rangel de Cuellar in the Guaimaral.

San Jose de Cúcuta is important to the history of Colombia, as the birthplace of Francisco de Paula Santander, Juan Nepomuceno Piedor, Francisco Montes de Oca, Pedro Fortul and Mercedes Abrego.

In 1875, Cúcuta occupied an area of 2.5 km² with a population of around 12,000. It had three churches, the main one, the Carmen (Hospital San Juan de Dios) and the San Antonio. It had the Municipal House, two theaters, a covered market, schools, a hospital (San Juan de Dios) and a bridge across the Pamplonita River. The city now has an area of 1,176 km².

Conquerors and founders

The first European in Norte de Santander was the German Ambrosio Alfínger, who came in 1530 from Venezuela) with a troop of adventurers and arrived at Tamalameque close to the Magdalegana River. He headed to Girón in Santander, and crossed north of Ocaña. He returned north over the deserts of the extinguished Province of Pamplona; he was killed in Chitacomar outside Chinácota fighting the Chitareros.

In 1541, Hernán Pérez de Quesada arrived at Chinácota, but he had to leave within the year. Shortly after, Alfonso Pérez de Tolosa came from Tocuyo, Venezuela, and arrived at Salazar de Las Palmas after going through Cúcuta, but he had to come back after losing many of his armsmen.

In 1549, another troop of Spanish armsmen, commanded by Pedro de Ursúa and Ortún Velasco of Quesada, invaded the territory of the Norte de Santander Department. During the same year they arrived at the valleys of Pamplona, where in memory of Pamplona, Spain, they founded the city which they called "New Pamplona". This settlement soon attracted numerous settlers by its gentle climate and the gold mines that were discovered in the region. The expeditions which completed the conquest of the present territory of Norte de Santander were based from this city.

The first expedition was commanded by Diego de Montes during 1553.

The second expedition was commanded by Francisco Fernández de Contreras, who met the Hacaritamas Indians, and on 26 July, 1572, founded the city of Ocaña that was called in that time "Santa Ana de Hacarí". (Other names for this city were "New Madrid" or "Santa Ana de Ocaña".) Antonio de Orozco, a subordinate of Fernández, founded Teorama the next year, while the friars of Augustine founded a convent that is the basis of the current the population of Chinácota.

Antonio de Los Ríos Jiménez was the founder of Faustino, near the Táchira River, in 1673. Another Spanish community was established in San Luís de Cúcuta, the old name for the town. In 1744, he founded San José de Guasimales, the population of which has been growing and progressing until the present city of Cúcuta.