Manizales

Manizales (Spanish pronunciation: [mah- knee -sah- less]) capital of the Department of Caldas, is a city and municipality in central Colombia, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.

Presently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an important hub for higher educational institutions.

History

Manizales was founded on October 12, 1849, in the midst of a civil war between bipartisan followers, Liberals against Conservatives. The city was founded by a group of twenty antioquians (The Expedition of the 20), who came from Neira and Salamina. There is a strong Spanish influence in the culture and the population was very homogeneous, mostly white, until other ethnic groups migrated to the city in search of the universities.

Geography

Manizales is the capital city of one of the smallest Colombian departments. The city is described as having an "abrupt topography", and lies on the Colombian Central Mountain Range (part of the longest continental mountain range, The Andes), with a great deal of ridgelines and steep slopes, which, combined with the seismic instability of the area, has required architectural adaptations and public works to make the city safer. Even though Manizales has this very difficult topography, there are many coffee plantations in its fertile lands. The city is located in the northern part of the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis ("Eje Cafetero"), near the volcano Nevado del Ruiz, which has an altitude of 5,321 meters (17,457.3 ft).