El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca

El Cerrito is a town and municipality located in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. This is one of the 42 municipalities of the department.
The town is known for having within its jurisdiction the hacienda "El Paraíso", where the writer Jorge Isaacs lived and set his novel María. Part of its territory also belongs to the Parque Nacional Natural Las Hermosas. Is situated 47 km east to Cali, the capital of the department.
The name of the municipality and the head is of Spanish origin (El Cerrito translates literally into English as The Small Hill), and it refers to the hill where the population resides. It is a massif in the Colombian Andes Region.
It is located on a plain by the river that bears its name, on the western slope of the Cordillera Central.
Its coordinates are between 1°13' to 2° West longitude and 4° to 5° North latitude, at an altitude of 987 m over sea level and its average temperature is 24 °C.
Its topography comprises two areas: The first one is the mountainous western side of Cordillera Central; its highest peaks are Paramo de las Hermosas (3,500 meters high), the Cerro Pan de Azúcar and El Alto de la Cruz. The second area is flat or slightly wavy and belongs to the valley of the Cauca River. The territory corresponds to the thermal floors warm, half cold and wilderness. The hydrography of the municipality is composed by the rivers Amaime, Cauca, Cerrito and Sabaletas, along with several creeks and smaller streams, and the lagoon Three Americas.
This municipality is bordered by Guacari and Ginebra to the North, by Chaparral in the Department of Tolima on the East, Palmira to the south and by Vijes to the West.
Their townships are: Santa Elena, El Placer, San Antonio, Santa Luisa, El Pomo, El Castillo, El Moral, El Carrizal, Aují, Los Andes and Tenerife.
The municipal seat is divided into neighborhoods San Rafael, Santa Bárbara, Chapinero, Buenos Aires, Eduardo Cabal Molina, La Estrella, El Rosario, Sagrado Corazón, Álvaro Navia Prado, El Cincuentenario, La Esperanza, Sajonia, Pueblito Valluno, Coincer, Villa del Carmen, Los Samanes, Villa Cariño, Villa La Paz, Brisas de la Merced (El Teatrino), Nuevo Amanecer and El Porvenir.
Sebastián de Belalcázar and his troops conquered this territory, that was populated by Native Pijaos, who, under the command of cacique Calarcá, were submitted by the Europeans.
An important figure in the era of conquest is Maria Luisa de la Espada, who was born in Canton Buga. Daughter of a Spaniard, she inherited the family's trust, writing a story and legend of charm that attracts thousands of tourists to walk the roads that climb to the district of Tenerife to visit the many houses on the road and the ruins of her castle.
In the region of Guazábara -where the Amerindians worshiped the tree "Totujandi"- Captain Gregorio de Astigarreta built the hacienda San Jerónimo de los Ingenios, that was placed in jurisdiction of Guacari county, and where the village originally settled in 1797. The Cabildo of Cali created Pantanillo county with jurisdiction between the rivers Las Guabas and Nima, and in 1821 it was transferred to the Canton of Buga, then it was finally moved to the land that was donated by ladies Petrona and Sebastiana Cárdenas.
The first Mass was offered by Father Manuel José Guzmán on August 30, 1825 and the place was named San Jerónimo. By Ordinance No. 21 of October 14, 1854 of the Legislature of Cauca, declared the creation of a district named Guzmán, as homage to the forementioned priest. The Ordinance of August 30, 1864 upgraded the district to a municipal district under the name of El Cerrito.
Its main economic activities are cattle breeding (especially the processing of leather) and agriculture (grapes, sugar cane, corn, soybeans, rice, millet, beans, peppers and tropical flowers like orchids).
El Cerrito is also the main producer of 'Panderitos' baked goods produced with the flour of the cassava root.
Special mention also deserve the furniture manufacturing -especially in wood-, fruit crops and the promotion of tourism in hotels and restaurants in the mainly rural area. The cliffs of the area attract many tourists keen on extreme sports and tourism of exploration.
Many colonial country properties (haciendas in Spanish) have great historical value, such as: El Albión, Trejitos, La Merced, La María, La Cruz, El Paraíso, Piedechinche, La Concepción, Novillero, La Argelia, La Aurora, San Miguel, Trapiche de San Fernando, El Hatico, Milán, El Trejo, Villa Mercedes and San Joaquín.
A road system connects El Cerrito with neighboring towns: Buga, Rozo (Palmira) and Costa Rica (Ginebra). It also has internal roads connecting with Ginebra.
The three parishes of El Cerrito belong to the diocese of Palmira: the parish of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, established by the founding of El Cerrito, the parish of Perpetual Help, founded July 16, 1990, and the Lord of Mercy Parish, established November 8, 2000.
It belongs also to the Judicial District of Cali, the Circle of Registry and Notary in Buga, and the electoral district of Valle del Cauca; it also holds a Notary Circle.
It is a Government's project that includes the expansion of roads, legal and economic incentives for the development of tourism in the municipalities of Guacara, Ginebra, El Cerrito and Palmira.
Among the dishes we can find the arroz atollado, sancocho, pandebono and empanada.
Among the desserts we may find the sponge cake and the blancmange.
There are many varieties of fruit including grapes, chontaduro (fruit of the palm Bactris gasipaes), mangoes, bananas, oranges, papayas, medlar and caimos (Pouteria caimito).
3°40′N 76°10′W﻿ / ﻿3.667°N 76.167°W﻿ / 3.667; -76.167