Medellin Colombia

Description: Medellín, officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (Distrito Especial de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central region of the Andes Mountains, in northwestern South America. The city’s population was 2,508,452 at the 2018 census. The metro area of Medellín is the second-largest urban agglomeration in Colombia in terms of population and economy, with more than 4 million people.

Population: 2,508,452

Demographics: According to local census the ethnographic makeup of the city is: White/Mestizo : 93.4%, Black, mulatto, Afro-Colombian or Afro-descendant: 6.5%, Indigenous Amerindians: 0.1%

History: In August 1541, Marshal Jorge Robledo was in the place known today as Heliconia when he saw in the distance what he thought was a valley. He sent Jerónimo Luis Tejelo to explore the territory, and during the night of August 23, Tejelo reached the plain of what is now Aburrá Valley. The Spaniards gave it the name of “Valley of Saint Bartholomew”, but this was soon changed for the native name Aburrá, meaning “Painters”, due to the textile decorations of the local chief-men. In 1616, the colonial visitor Francisco de Herrera y Campuzano founded a settlement with 80 Amerindians, naming it Poblado de San Lorenzo, today “El Poblado”. In 1646 a colonial law ordered the separation of Amerindians from mestizos and mulattos, so the colonial administration began the construction of a new town in Aná, today Berrío Park, where the church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Aná (“Our Lady of Candelaria of Aná”) was built. Three years later, the Spaniards started the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, which was rebuilt at the end of the 18th century. In 1675, the first census during colonial times was taken: there were 3,000 people and 280 families. Another census was not taken until the colonial Visitador (royal inspector) Antonio Mon y Velarde ordered one between 1786 and 1787: there were then 14,507 people and 241 families. In 1808, two years before Colombia won independence, the city had 15,347 people and 360 families. In 1803, the Royal College of the Franciscans was founded in the Central Plaza, which is Berrío Park today, with the initial departments of Grammar, Philosophy, and Theology. Soon after, the college moved to a new building in the small San Ignacio square. In 1821 it was renamed Colegio de Antioquia, and it became the University of Antioquia in 1901. The university also had the first vocational training school, the first cultural radio station in Latin America, and the first regional botanical garden. In the first half of the twentieth century, the population of Medellín increased sixfold, from 59,815 inhabitants in 1905 to 358,189 in 1951. The study by Charles H. Savage on industrial production in Antioquia between 1960 and 1972 showed how important Medellín industries became to Colombia and South America. Colombia entered a new era of political instability with the murder of presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in Bogotá in 1948. Political violence spread in the rural areas of Colombia, and farmers fled to the cities. The Valley slopes became overpopulated with slums. The position of Medellín as an industrial city in Antioquia has been the main factor in overcoming its crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. The Medellín Metro, a massive urban transport service, became the pride of the city. The construction of the Plaza Mayor of Medellín, an international center for congresses and expositions, was designed to showcase the globalized economy of Colombia to the world. In 2012, Medellín was among 200 cities around the world, including New York and Tel Aviv, nominated for Most Innovative City of the Year due to a great advancement in public transportation, with more than 500,000 residents and visitors using its Metro train system each day; a public bike-share program; new facilities and landmarks, including the España Library and a cultural center in Moravia; a large outdoor escalator the size of a 28-story building, enabling residents of the city’s elevated Comuna 13 neighborhood to safely ride down the steep hillside; and a Metro system which reduces Medellín’s CO2 emissions by 175,000 tons each year. Medellín has the biggest research-dedicated building in Colombia called University Research Building (Sede de Investigación Universitaria, SIU) a facility that concentrates the top research groups of the University of Antioquia.

Elevation: 1495 m

Climate: Tropical rainforest climate. Average annual temperature in Medellin is 22 C (72 F), the average for July is 23 C (73 F), the average for January is 21 C (72 F).

Attractions: Museo Pablo Escobar, Laguna De Guatape, Plaza Botero, Medellin Metrocable, Centro Comercial Santafe, Parque Arvi, El Castillo Museo Y Jardines, Beyond Escobar History Museum

Airports: Jose Maria Cordova International Airport MDE

Distance To City Centre: 25 km

Commute Length: 30 min

Average Cost: 55 USD

Traffic Hours: 6:30 am – 9:30 am, 3:30 pm – 8:30 pm