Mompox was founded in 1540. In the colonial era the
remote interior town thrived because of its island location in the
midst of the Magdalena River—an economic and transportation lifeline
from the ocean to the Andes Mountains. In its heyday Mompox was a
wealthy city home to a royal mint and storehouses of precious metals and
jewels.
Mompox’s prosperity was reflected in
its architecture and stately buildings, and squares sprang up on
whitewashed streets as the town grew along the riverbank. The city was
even a source of strength to frequent visitor Simón Bolívar, who raised
troops here in the struggle for the independence of Gran Colombia.
But
the town’s fall was a hard one. The river began silting up in the 19th
century. Large boats were forced to seek other routes and Mompox was
gradually left behind. In more recent times Colombia’s unsettled
politics and criminal violence hit the Magdalena Valley region hard.
Mompox was long off-limits to visitors because paramilitaries and
narco-terrorists were warring.
While the city
slumbered on its isolated island, the magnificent historic center and
colonial architecture remained preserved and largely unaltered, if a bit
decayed, home to perhaps 30,000 people.
Now
that the Magdalena Valley is once again safe, visitors are beginning to
rediscover an incredible piece of South America’s colonial history. Many
of the town's historic buildings are still being used for their
original purposes, including churches, palatial homes, schools, city
hall, and even the San Juan de Dios hospital.
The
ancient trades, too, still flourish here. The city has long been famed
for gold jewelry, and modern artists do a fine job of carrying on the
tradition.
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