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Published: September 12th 2013
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My dear friends, here´s an entry of El Socorro, a lovely town I visited over the weekend, which was a chance for me to relax within this non-stopping way of overworking and multitasking. For a 15,000-peso bus ticket from Bucaramanga, I decided to try out a historical weekend as the venue demands it, I hope you can share a bit of my relaxation and if you can make it one day to Colombia, come with me to this piece of my lovely country.
The Epicentre of the Comuneros Revolution In 1683, Spanish families coming from Vélez, Pamplona, Girón and Chanchón decided to found this village, there in the very heart of the Guane territory. As many villages were created in South America, it all started with a misión church and at the same time, the community settlers decided to build their abodes around that holy place.
Reading about how the village started growing, it seems that there is not clarity, what is true, apparently, is that the inhabitants were known to be rebels that were used to being flooded from the very beginning. Legend has it that in the seventeenth century,
Here in the background, the Socorro Cathedral
By its sight, you can understand why it is the most important landmark in the village Fray Antonio Guerra, after a big revolt from the community, was obliged to start the building of a church, that would be flooded some years later. A second church was built and there again wáter was the culprit for its destruction.
Thankfully, by 1843, a new church was built, and for the sake of the Socorro´s inhabitants, the venue is still there today; when you go, have a look at the place and it will give you an idea of the ceilings, constructions and layouts of that remote epoch.
Eighteen years later, the village grew to become a city and even more, between 1862 and 1886 El Socorro managed to become the capital of Santander. Little did the founders know that some historical figures such as Manuela Beltran, Juan Francisco Berbeo and Antonia Santos would be born here and that the village they founded, being referred as the Pueblo Revolt, would play a vital role in the Colombian independence.
That's correct, it was here, where an intensive campaign of civil resistance started, triggered by the inconformism of the Colombian people; in fact, by 1781, such was the anger and the rebellion
towards the domination of the Spanish empire that the first step for the revolution was taken, a step that gave way to the signing of the Capitulations.
El Socorro is then synonymous with uprisings and revolts. The capitulations mentioned above can be consulted in a book written by a villager called Manuel Vicente, as he published the full list of the captains reunited and the contents of the capitulations together with the questions asked to Jose Antonio Galan. As a matter of fact, Manuel wrote the book "Los Comuneros" when he worked for the government
No wonder why, the village was declared patrimony of national importance in 1963, and you need to visit some places such as ''El Puente de los Comuneros, la Casa de la Cultura o Casa de Berbeo and the Claustro San Francisco".
José A Morales and his Pueblito Viejo
El Socorro is also famous for being the native city of José Alejandro Morales, one of the most remarkable Colombian composers, whose songs have been favourites of internatioal singers, notably Maria Dolores Pradera and Alci Acosta who interpret some of his songs; this prolific
artist gave birth to unforgettable songs such as Pueblito Viejo, which is a song that we are all brought up with, as we learn it in primary school. The lyrics are down here in the photos section so that you can read it, it´s lovely, I can send you the track if you like.
Ayer me echaron del pueblo is another one of my favourites, it tells the story of an honest worker who was so angry at his boss´s injustice that he ended up hitting him (you see, the people from Socorro 😊 No, seriously, the song demands justice and it also affirm that we are equal and should be treated likewise. If I had to mention some others, I wouldn´t finish as I like lots...
Maria Antonia, Campesina Santandereana, which has become one of our department anthoms;
Pescador Lucero y Rio,
Yo tambien tuve 20 años, which is the song that is a must for birthdays, specially when you are not 22 anymore, like...you.
What else? On another note, the Suarez River also offers visitors lots of extreme sport, canoeing on the Suarez River; I had the
chance of being invited by a student who took me over to her place, we had such a good weekend, visiting the city, I was very impressed by the Nuestra Señora del Socorro´s Cathedral, built in 1783 and depicting a Renaissance style.
But I must confess that thankfully we also had time to enjoy some cold beers, swim and laugh lots, there you go.
The verdict is... you need to visit the city and you´ll have a better picture of what I have just described; on top of that, projects for the conservation of the historical places are on the pipeline as there is high interest of the government to keep the richness of our history, I was told that a sum was approved in 2005 to be invested in the renovation of important landmarks.
Last but not least, keep me posted if you go.
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