Fontibon

Fontibón is town number 9 in the Capital District of Bogotá. It is located in the west of the city. It has an approximate population of 444,951.

Toponymy

During pre-Columbian times, it was interchangeably called Hyntiba, Hontybón, Ontibón, Fontibón, probably Derived from the name of the cacique or the people who inhabited it, the latter was adopted since its Hispanic foundation in 1594. Its name is also derived from the indigenous word Huntia, which refers to the powerful captain.

Physical geography

Fontibón lies on relatively flat terrain in the Bogotá savannah.

Limits

Northwest: Fun (Agribusiness Zone, Vereda La Florida Rio Bogotá and wetlands of El Dorado Airport	North: Fun (Río Bogotá Vereda La Florida)	Northeast: Locality of Engativá (UPZ homonym Avenida José Celestino Mutis, Carrera 96)
West: Mosquera (Río Bogotá Barrio El Porvenir)		This: Locality of Engativá (UPZ Alamos, Santa Cecilia and Botanic Garden Avenida Eldorado
Southwest: Kennedy location (UPZ Tintal Norte and Castilla Rio Fucha)	South: Kennedy location (UPZ Bavaria Rio Fucha)	Sureste: Locations of Teusaquillo (UPZ Salitre Oriental) and of Puente Aranda (UPZ homonym Avenue 68)

Extent: 3328 hectares.

Hydrology

In addition to the Bogotá and Fucha rivers and the San Antonio ravine, within Fontibón there are some wetlands, such as the Capellanía wetland and the Meandro del Say wetland, which contain an important part of the Capital District's biodiversity.

History

During the Colony it served as a transit for mule trains and travelers between Santafé de Bogotá and the Magdalena River. From that time, around its central square, Spanish-style buildings such as the Santiago Apóstol Cathedral, the house of the nobles and the house of travelers are preserved.

Cathedral Santiago Apostle.

It was founded by the oidor don Francisco de Anunciabay on May 19, 1594, who also built a bridge to unite Fontibón with Santa Fe. According to what people say, this bridge was built to facilitate the passage of the oidor in his visits to his girlfriend, Jerónima de Olaya. Later, during the colony and a large part of the republic, a dirt road was built in order to unite Fontibón with the capital, known today as Calle 13, or "Avenida Jiménez", the main artery between the east and southwest of the capital.

During the Colony, Fontibón not only saw the rise of haciendas and opulence. Several of the meetings that would end up generating the revolutionary movement that led to the freedom of the country were held in his settings. After independence, Simón Bolívar left through these same streets towards Santa Marta in search of better health, amid shouts of "Get out, get out, Longanizo!", with which the people of the town fired him.

Railway station.

The until then municipality of Fontibón was annexed in 1954 to the Special District of Bogotá, in which its territory extended to the limits to the north with what is now the El Dorado Airport, with the Hacienda El Salitre de Bogotá to the east (which it would later incorporate), to the south to the Southern Railway and to the west, to the Techo sector, El Humedal El Burro and the limits of the current Tintal neighborhood (Avenida Manuel Cepeda Vargas), for which the latter would be ceded to Kennedy in 1977, the year in which it was established as a minor mayor's office and the political constitution of 1991 made it a town in Bogotá.

Important characters such as former president Mariano Ospina Pérez had a residence, one block from the current market square.

In the middle of the XX century, immigrants from different European countries settled in Fontibón and set up businesses such as bakeries (La Palma, Danish pastry shop), pastries (La Toledo, by Don Fernando, of Spanish origin, who began selling churros in the central park, near the current cathedral), delicatessens (such as La Itala, by Italian immigrants). Professors of Yugoslav origin, such as Professor Katich from the Colegio de Los Andes.

The Miraculous Medal Parish in Salitre City.

For many years, Fontibón was an obligatory step in the Vuelta a Colombia cycling competition, and had riders much loved by the inhabitants such as Pedro J. Gómez, who did not stand out in the first places, but participated with great determination during several editions of the event.

During a visit by the President of the United States John F. Kennedy, his entrance to Bogotá was a parade through what is now called Carrera 100, and which at that time was called Kennedy Avenue, in homage to the famous president, few years later assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Today Fontibón is one of the important industrial centers of the capital, where there are bottling factories, packaging factories, body builders, laboratories and various types of commerce.

Its urban structure responds to the typical characteristics of development including problems of public services, roads, etc. Architecturally, Fontibón is a mixture of modern structures and buildings from the Hispanic period.

Human Geography

Territorial organization

The town of Fontibón is divided into 8 UPZ (Zonal Planning Units). In turn, these units are divided into neighborhoods, as we see here (some UPZ share neighborhoods), which in the future some of them will be transformed into Local Planning Units.

In the Fontibón area there are few sidewalks left; most of them are near the Fucha and Bogotá rivers.

Changes in the territorial organization from the new POT 2021 - 2035

As of District Decree No. 555 of December 29, 2021, which adopts the general review of the Bogotá Land Management Plan (POT) "Bogotá Reverdece" 2022 - 2035, Bogotá is administratively divided into 33 UPL - Planning Units. An important part of the territory of the town of Fontibón is divided into two UPL as follows:

-UPL 12: Fontibon

-UPL 30: Saltpeter

Friday, April 14, 2023

Mobility

The town of Fontibón has historically been a point of entry and exit for mobility between Bogotá and the municipalities of the neighboring province of Sabana Occidente and from this province to western Colombia, connecting Avenida Centenario which becomes the Bogotá river in National Route 50.

At an interurban, interdepartmental and international level, the Transport Terminal is located in the town, specifically in the Ciudad Salitre sector. Most buses leave from there with different destinations throughout the country. The route of the Bogotá-Soacha Corridor also passes through Avenida Boyacá and through that of Las Américas, the routes from the municipalities of Sabana Occidente to Facatativá.

TransMilenio and SiTP

The town of Fontibón is one of the last to have the massive TransMilenio transportation system. The northern end benefits directly from the Avenida Eldorado Trunk (Line K) with the stations: Portal Eldorado, Modelia, Normandía, Avenida Rojas and El Tiempo - Maloka, in addition to the Dual Bus stops between Transversal 93 and Eldorado Airport.

Transport Terminal

Map of future phase 3, under construction since 2008.

TransMilenio Feeders, Troncal El Dorado in the town of Fontibón

Portal Eldorado (Southern tributary)	Modelia
16-3 The Golden Alamo (last whereabouts in Modelia) 16-7 Fontibón La Estancia 16-8 Free Zone 16-9 Fontibón Centro 16-10 Vilemar 16-14 Airport	17-3 Avenida Rojas (a Modelia)

With the implementation of the Integrated Public Transport System of Bogotá, the town of Fontibón is divided into two zones: between Calle 26 and Calle 13 is zone 6 Fontibón, operated by the concessionaire Coobus S.A.S; and between Calle 13 and the southern limit of the town is zone 7 Tintal - Zona Franca, operated by the concessionaire Este es Mi Bus S.A.S. Given the problems that Coobus S.A.S. has had, the implementation and operation of trunk, feeder and zonal services have been affected; For this reason, the town of Fontibón is behind in the implementation of SITP services.

Economy

Fontibón is an important industrial and commercial center, as well as an important transportation hub.

El Dorado International Airport.

In Fontibón are the El Dorado International Airport (originally part of the town of Engativá) and the Bogotá Transport Terminal.

Likewise, there are important factories and warehouses, including the Bogotá Free Trade Zone, the main machine center in Bogotá.

On Avenida Eldorado there are offices of important service companies, including the modern building of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce.

The neighborhood is home to SATENA.

Among its residents, the middle and upper-middle class predominate, socioeconomic stratum 3 and 4.

• Hayuelos Shopping Center, Bogotá's third largest shopping center.
• Salitre Plaza Shopping Centre located in western salitre city, between Avenida Esperanza and Avenida Rojas.
• Plaza Claro Shopping Centre.
• Multiplace Shopping Center.

Places of interest

Estela con la efigie del virrey José Solís Folch de Cardona en el Puente de San Antonio.

• El Dorado Airport in Bogotá.
• Bridge of San Antonio de la Zanja, national monument carved in stone towards 1670, has the effigy of the virrey José Solís Folch de Cardona.
• House of strangers or village house, currently House of Culture Cacique Hyntiba, is a test room and exhibitions.
• Casa de la comisaría, Casona restored in colonial style, is now the headquarters of the Local Board of Trustees.
• Estación de Fontibón, railway station built in the early twentieth century, constitutes mute testimony of the railway transport in Colombia.
• Camino de Salamanca, old road of beasts surrounded by mills and dairy farms.
• Meandro del Say, a biodiversity-rich lake area.

Public services

Education

Fontibón has 122 public and private schools.

Culture

Fontibón's cultural activity occurred in its early years, thanks to the cultural activities of the schools and academic institutions located there. Subsequently, musical cultural groups such as Los Amerindios, and theater groups such as the Fontibón Experimental Theater were born.

In the middle of the XX century, Fontibón had two movie theaters: The Bolívar Theater, located very close to the Train station; and the Avirama theater, which was located on the current 17th street with carrera 96. The Bolívar theater was famous because it screened especially Mexican movies, both romantic, adventure and comic. There, the inhabitants amused themselves with the occurrences of Mexican humorists such as Viruta y Capulina, Cantinflas, and with the adventure and love stories of Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, among others. In the Avirama theater, more varied and more recent films from the international billboard were presented. These movie theaters were also used by the most prestigious schools for activities such as end-of-year graduations (called solemn or closing sessions). Another movie theater was the Teatro Milán, more modern than its predecessors, also located very close to the old train station, in the current 100 carrera.

In Fontibón lived artists such as the singer Claudia Osuna, the famous Marcelino Rodríguez, popularly known as "Mandíbula", well-known actor of the popular Colombian television program Sábados feliz. Other cultural activities were constituted for many years, the parades of schools with their war bands, especially on the days of religious and patriotic festivities. The Santa Ana School, the INJUV Children's and Youth Institute, the Los Andes School, the La Abadía School, the School, the Perpetuo Socorro School, the Las Monjas School, etc., were distinguished among others.

Today, Fontibón has a rich artistic activity, especially the theater, it has three rooms where theater training is carried out, the Theater Assembly Room in the Puerta de Teja neighborhood, the Augusto Boal Room and the Group Room Las Babas de la Luna in the El Recodo neighborhood.

There are more than 10 monuments in honor of significant figures in the town of Fontibón.

Maloka

• Library of the Giralda, former municipal library, for many years worked annexed to the mayor's office, then in Modelia and currently with ludoteca and an expanded collection, is part of the public library network.
• Colombian Aerospace Museum, exhibits a wide collection of aircraft and different aeronautical and spatial elements, its origins date back to 1962.
• Maloka is an interactive museum, in addition to a research program and entertainment center based on it, located in the city of Bogotá, in Colombia. Its name derives from the maloca, which is a large house that serves as a meeting place for many indigenous communities in the Amazon.
• Create Villemar.
• Experimental Fontibon Theatre.

Sports

The Fontibón Football Committee (CODEFON) was very famous, which organized the senior and promotion category football tournaments every year, with well-known figures such as Wenceslao Polanco. On weekends it was a whole family program to attend the games on the fields of Villemar, Atahualpa, the Metropolitan, La Giralda, HB, Icofieltros or Palestina. There, teams such as Los Cardenales, Tayrona, Barrero Hermanos, Los Mismos, Los '70, Villemar, Olimpic F.C., Sport Boys, Aerocondor, Talleres B-600, Los Embajadores, Juventud Alianza, Gornik, Ban Field, Quilmes stood out., Like Caiga and Parsenal, among many more. Outstanding players such as Virgilio Moreno, Faustino Romero, Mariano Acevedo, Germán and Álvaro Martínez, Carlos Milkes, Oscar Rivera, Álex García and Andrés Chitiva, among many others.

• 271 sports public parks and settings
• 3 district synthetic courts

Outstanding athletes

• Andrés Chitiva, footballer.