Santa Cruz de Mompós
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How it came to be
Mompox lies on the Magdalena River in northern Colombia. Its name comes from Mampo, the local chief when the Spanish arrived. In the 16th century Alonso de Heredia founded the town as a safe port on the river. It prospered as a stop for river trade between the port of Cartagena and the interior, had a royal mint and was known for its goldsmiths.
The town grew in a long strip along the winding river. Unlike most Spanish colonial towns it has no single main square, but three plazas along the river, each with its own church and each matching a former Indigenous settlement. A barrier wall, the albarrada, protected the town from floods, and from the 17th century houses with shops on the ground floor lined the street behind it.
On 6 August 1810 Mompox became the first town in Colombia to declare independence from Spain. In 1812 Simón Bolívar recruited 400 men here. The town later lost its economic importance, which left its colonial streets largely intact. It became a national monument in 1959 and was inscribed in 1995.
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