Nutibara Hill
The Cerro Nutibara is a small mountainous formation located in the Colombian city of Medellín, in the geographic center of the Aburrá Valley, on the western bank of the Medellín River, in the middle of the urban area, and it is one of the few ecosystems that are conserved locally.
At first, at the time of the Spanish conquerors, it was called Morro de Marcela de la Parra and later Morro de los Cadavides; finally it was renamed Cerro Nutibara, which continues to this day.
With its 33 hectares of extension and eighty meters high above the level of the city, it offers an important panoramic view over the entire city.
It is bounded on the north by 32D Street and 33rd Avenue; by the west with the race 65; to the south with 30A street and to the east with the bridge that joins Avenida del Ferrocarril with Avenida Guayabal.
At its top is the Pueblito Paisa, an allegory to the municipalities of the Paisa Region built in 1977. There is also the “Carlos Vieco” Open Air Theater with a capacity of 3,800 spectators, raised in homage to the composer Carlos Vieco Ortiz. And finally, there is also the Parque de las Esculturas, created in 1983, which is a permanent exhibition of sculptures made by eleven national and international artists and installed in the natural environment of the hill, and where visitors can appreciate this art in a short tour of its slopes.
Together with Cerro Pan de Azúcar, Cerro El Salvador, Cerro El Volador, Cerro La Asomadera, Cerro Las Tres Cruces, Cerro El Picacho and Cerro Santo Domingo, make up the group of so-called tutelary hills of the city of Medellín, a network of geographical features along the Aburrá Valley that has an important historical, archaeological, ecological and tourist value.
History
During the 18th and 19th centuries, when Medellín was known as the Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria on the banks of the Quebrada Santa Elena, the Nutibara hill was not part of the landscape of this small town. At that time it was identified as the "morro Marcela de la Parra", the name of the owner of those "remote" on the other side of the Medellin river. It was identified with that name until a family with the surname "Cadavid", became its new owner, acquiring the name: "El Morro de Los Cadavides&# 3. 4;. This is how it was known even up to two years after the Municipality of Medellín bought it in 1927 for the cost of $50,000 pesos, from the company of the Public Slaughterhouse and Fair of Medellín, with the purpose of allocating it to a recreational park, preserving its characteristics. ecological, for a city that continued to grow and little by little was enveloping it in its incipient urban fabric, which is why it was officially the first tutelary hill of Medellín.
In 1929, the Sociedad de Mejoras Públicas -SMP- proposed to the Municipal Council to change the name of the hill, making it less private and more public, but at the same time identifying it with the region. Although the first initiative to search for the new name was to open a contest, finally the members of the SMP Board chose the new nickname, among which were: Cerro de los Alcácerez (the name that obtained the most votes after the one chosen), Cerro Aburraes, Cerro de Ayacucho and Cerro de Bárbula.
With the choice of the name of "Nutibara" They wanted to pay homage to Cacique Nutibara, one of the richest and most powerful chiefs of the department of Antioquia, whose domains extended throughout almost the entire west, from the Serranía de Abibe to the Cauca River, recognition that at that time was made by the Antioqueña Academy of History in their research work.
Transformation of Cerro Nutibara
After the name change was made, in 1930, the Municipality authorized the Public Improvement Society to work on the development of designs and plans for the construction of a recreational park on the hill, proposals that should be presented and approved by the Council.
For the year 1939, the "Nutibara Futuro" plan was approved, which included the layout and construction of internal and external roads to facilitate access, roundabouts, kiosks, tree planting, parking, lake, waterfalls, bridges rustic, pedestrian paths, viewpoints and a restaurant at the top.
It was like that for the month of August of that year, the first 510 trees had already been planted, compared to the 60 thousand that Ricardo Olano dreamed of planting. This year also began the construction of the first highway that became the main one, whose entrance was through 30A street, a road that was illuminated by the Electric Power Company in 1955.
Within this series of works carried out by the SMP in partnership with the Municipality of Medellín, there is the construction of the first water tank, between the years of 1940 and 1943, in order to supply water to the hill.
In 1951, the Municipality decided to hand over the hill on loan to the Public Improvement Society, which would henceforth be in charge of its administration and of the works for the construction of a park or public walk. Although the first restaurant was inaugurated in October of that same year, work that was carried out with the collaboration of the municipality, sixteen years later, in 1967, the mayor at that time asked the Ombudsman to cancel the contract with the SMP, for its breach, that is, to date, the Company had not started the construction works of the public park. Since then, the hill has been managed by the Municipality of Medellín.
Since 1930, the Public Improvement Society tried to design a public park to make Cerro Nutibara a tourist attraction and a distinctive feature of the city. It was not until 1975, on the occasion of the tercentenary of Medellín, that the Territorial Credit Institute, SENA and the Central Mortgage Bank decided to come together to finance the construction of a small town in Antioquia with all the traditional characteristics.
Like any great work, the Pueblito Paisa also had an event that marked its inspiration and that years later would materialize. This event took place in the year 1969, when the Antioquia Liquor Factory held an exhibition of flowers which it called "Pueblito en flor". Its scenery was based on the construction of a replica of a town in Antioquia, with streets and a main square, where the flowers of the season were displayed. At first, the authorities thought of buying that scenery that had been made by the gardening club, however, the inconsistency of the materials, since they had only been falsely joined facades, did not allow any business to be carried out.
However, the idea had been gestated and from then on the efforts were focused on its realization. After two years, the municipality put out to tender the preparation of the plans for the construction of a replica of the town on top of the Nutibara hill, a contest that was declared void on two occasions.
Meanwhile, in 1974, the restaurant-viewpoint was built, which was in charge of the firm I. y L.H. Forero, site where the restaurant currently operates on the first floor and the gallery on the second. Once the works were finished, the Mirador was handed over to an individual as a lease with the condition that the latter carry out, among other things, the works of the typical Antioquia town.
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The following year, on the occasion of the celebration of the tercentenary of Medellín, the then general manager of the Territorial Credit Institute, Pedro Javier Soto Sierra, transmitted the initiative to the architect Julián Sierra Mejía, who would henceforth appropriate the project and I would specify it with some plans and designs that were worked on hand in hand with Municipal Planning and the Board of Education, Culture and Recreation of the Municipality. Among the first things that were agreed upon was to divide the project into zones: one urban and one rural.
Mr. Soto Sierra, who at the same time was part of the Boards of Directors of the Sena and Banco Central Hipotecario, promoted the financing of the urban part of the project, collecting $1,500,000 pesos, which were contributed by these three institutions, while the individual -(who rented the Mirador), would be in charge of the rural area, which included the construction of the continuation of "Calle Real", the roadside store with its corresponding back room and typical kitchen, a trapiche, a stable and a blacksmith, which would be used for the sale of typical food, complemented by a coffee plantation, cane field and banana plantation. However, the individual never complied with the conditions of the contract (those referring to the works to be carried out), frustrating this part of the project, and after facing a long and conflictive legal process, the Administration regained control over the hill in the April 1978.
Pueblito Paisa Foundation
After the plans were approved, prepared by the architect Julián Sierra Mejía in April 1976, the works that were under his charge, the Technical Department of Turantioquia and the Municipality of Medellín, began.
After the work began, private companies began to refinance the project, due, among other things, to the fact that the proposed budget had fallen short. This is how Coltejer, the Colombian Tobacco Company, the National Chocolate Company, Noel and Suramericana, injected resources into it, to which was added the painting provided by Pintuco.
Although the supporting structure of the church and the houses is still a replica of an Antioquia town from 1900, its creator, the architect Sierra, wanted to give it a touch of realism, acquiring construction materials and objects dating from that time.
In April 1976, many of the inhabitants of the old municipality of El Peñol demolished their homes to make way for the Dam. So the architect Sierra traveled to the town to acquire those demolition materials and balances such as doors, windows and casings. The same fate befell the materials and a good part of the belongings of the old house of San Vicente Spiritual Exercises, located between Avenida Oriental and Carrera Chile and Calle Barbacoas and Calle Argentina, also demolished between 1976 and 1977.
This is how the access door to the church of Pueblito Paisa was the entrance door of the House of San Vicente, as well as the wooden altar, objects dating from the twenties approximately. The baptismal font, about one hundred years old, is originally from Sonsón; and the Missal in Latin, dates from 1840; The desks at La Escuela and the bed in the Casa Cural date from the late XIX century and the beginning of the XX century, the same as the barbershop chairs, the paintings and the kitchen implements.
And since every self-respecting town has a fountain and a monument to some illustrious character, Pueblito Paisa was no exception and in December 1977 the teacher Gustavo López was entrusted with the elaboration of a bronze bust of the greatest exponent of Antioquian literature: Tomás Carrasquilla, a work that was delivered in the first months of the following year, a time when Empresas Públicas de Medellín equipped the hill with a 7.6 kW transformer.
Finally, and after a total investment of $2,100,000, on March 3, 1978, Pueblito Paisa was inaugurated and delivered to the public by the then mayor, Dr. Guillermo Hincapié Orozco, and the director of Development and Tourism Mrs. Mariluz Nichols Vallejo.
Over the years, however, both the municipal administrations and some private companies have been intervening in the Hill in order to make it more comfortable for visitors and thus achieve greater appropriation by the people of Antioquia for one of the most important lungs of the Aburrá Valley.
In 1985, the newspaper El Mundo and the Caracol radio network joined forces to give the Cerro signage for the most important spaces with stainless steel billboards. Likewise, in this same year, the artist María Villa was commissioned to carry out the Stations of the Cross for the Temple, which consisted of fourteen oil paintings on canvas, 40 × 50 cm each, work that was delivered at the beginning of 1986 and that is exhibited next to the paintings of the Heart of Jesus and Saint Teresa, also by the teacher, who died in Medellín in 1991. Also in that same year, two new pedestrian paths were built, one to ascend the hill from the entrance of Calle 30A and another that goes from the sculpture of Cacique Nutibara, to the Carlos Vieco theater, paths that were illuminated the following year by the Empresas Públicas de Medellín.
1988: in mid-July of this year, the “Carlos Vieco Ortiz” Theater was closed to make some reforms.
1990: on March 4, it was reopened in an act that included the participation of the Mayor, Dr. Juan Gómez Martínez, the Secretary of Municipal Education, Municipal Authorities and Teleantioquia.
1993: the Ministry of Education, Culture and Recreation hands over the administration of Cerro Nutibara to the INDER-Sports and Recreation Institute-.
2000: Guillermo Zuluaga's sculpture “Montecristo” honors the great Antioquian humorist who was known for his grace, wit and mischief. The work was made in bronze by the artist Luz Marina Piedrahíta in February of that year.
2001: At the initiative of Inder and in agreement with the National University of Medellín, the Self-Sufficient Integral Farm is created, located in the old nursery-school, which consists of a miniature forest model in which the basic cycle regulates the maintenance of its components, including ornamental and fruit plants, vegetables, domestic animals and organic waste for its own supply.
2003: Inder's agreement with the National University for the management of the Comprehensive Self-Sufficient Farm by budget is terminated.
2005: on February 9, the administration of Cerro Nutibara passes from the administration of the I.D.E.R. to the Secretary of Citizen Culture-Undersecretary of Tourism to be administered by Margarita María Baena Escobar.
2006: on February 1, 2007, Sergio Pérez Betancur began as administrator of Cerro Nutibara. Agricultural Business Administrator. Achieving fundamental changes in its administrative structure, generating an impressive tourist development and updating in all its aspects, a recognition that after his retirement in August 2012, merchants and visitors to the place still do.
Sergio Pérez Betancur in the company of the merchants wrote the Manual of coexistence and internal regulations of the urban recreation area Cerro Nutibara Ecological Park, this is a tool for consultation and participation and includes a set of rules and clear, concrete, understandable, logical, and manageable guidelines that self-regulate, guiding behavior and the exercise of freedoms, duties, and rights of both those who visit and work at Cerro Nutibara, and whose main objective is to achieve healthy coexistence and harmony among merchants, street vendors, the community of the area of influence (neighbors) and visitors to Cerro Nutibara,
This participatory process began in 2007 and has been complemented in the following years, counting on the participatory analysis and consensus of the representatives of the Merchant Association, independent merchants, Members of the Community Action Boards, Police of Tourism, Neighbors.
On February 19, the programming of “Medellín A Great Stage” begins at Cerro Nutibara, a program led by the Secretariat of Citizen Culture and which organizes cultural events with artists from the city.
From March 18 to 21, the anniversary of Pueblito Paisa is celebrated, with which it is intended to institutionalize this anniversary as one of the city fairs, in which recreational, recreational, cultural and musical activities were carried out that integrated people of all ages and tastes and which was well received by the different media in the city.
On April 27, 2006, in the company of the mayor of Medellín Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, secretaries of the different departments of the mayor's office, the metropolitan area, merchants, inhabitants and residents of Cerro, a presentation was made in which learn about the project led by the Ministry of the Environment "Plan for the management and comprehensive management of tutelary hills", presented by the architect Sergio Valentín in the church of Pueblito Paisa. At the end of the presentation, a tour of the sculpture park was carried out, the Carlos Vieco Ortiz open-air theater was entered to reach the parking lot of 33 where the tour ended.
On May 7, 2009, the mayor of the city Alonso Salazar J. signs METROPOLITAN RESOLUTION # 511 by means of which the Cerro Nutibara Ecological Park Urban Recreation Area is declared, reserved and bordered.
Creation of the Sculpture Park
The National Government (1982-1986) made the decision to convert Cerro Nutibara into a great cultural center and endow it with a park of sculptures, which gave a new dynamic to this site so that it would transfer its unique condition of &# 34;reserve" in search of a true identity with vigor and own strength.
In a record time of 15 days, in December 1983, the invited artists gave life to one of the most ambitious cultural projects in the city. It was an idea of the then President Belisario Betancur Cuartas. The Museum of Modern Art of Medellín -MAMM-, promoted it, the Municipal Administration, welcomed it and carried it out with the collaboration of some private companies from the "City of Eternal Spring".
The park contains one of the most important collective sculptural expressions of the 80s of the last century. The 10 sculptures are modernist and abstract, they are the unmistakable expression of what is now called participatory art. They are open works, through which the public can contemplate the city moving at their feet and integrate man with the landscape.
Cacique Nutibara Sculpture
The first monumental sculptural work that was made especially to decorate Cerro Nutibara, was the Madremonte, by the master José Horacio Betancur Betancur, in the year 1953. Since its delivery, the Madremonte was exposed for the first months in the Casa de La Cultura, and then on the Nutibara hill, until March 27, 1986, when it was transferred to the Botanical Garden, instead for the sculpture of Cacique Nutibara, by the same master.
This sculpture, made in 1955, is made of patinated concrete, weighs four tons and measures 3 m high by 2.9 m wide. The figure is made up of Cacique Nutibara, accompanied by a warrior and a puma at his feet, as a symbol of his courage and power.
Before it was definitively located on the western side of the top of the Hill, Cacique Nutibara was exhibited in the Plazuela that bears his name, then in the art garden of Laureles, owned by María Antonieta Pellicer de Vallejo, who he was a patron of the master. In 1963, it was transferred for the first time to Cerro Nutibara, where it stayed until 1970, when it was taken to the Botanical Garden, where it remained until March 27, 1986, when it finally returned to the hill that honors its name.
Different areas of Cerro Nutibara
Pueblo Paisa
El Pueblito Paisa is the representation of the framework of the square of a typical Antioquian town from the beginning of the XX century century. For its composition, the construction of the church was thought of, whose white belfry stands out from the terracotta roofs of the houses of architecture between colonial and vernacular with one and two floors, among which is the Casa Cural, the Mayor's Office, the School, the Barbershop, the Fonda, the Shop, the Typical House and the other houses that complement the cobbled square.
Total area: 435 m² divided as follows:
- Area Chapel: 105 m2
- School area: 80 m2
- City area: 32 m2
- Cural House Area: 47 m2
- Estanco Area: 12 m2
- Barbery area: 12 m2
- Botica area: 12 m2
- Second Floor Area: 75 m2
- Area House Crafts: 60 m2
Gallery
Stairways to the church and square
Pueblito Paisa
House and lamp
Nutibara Cacique Sculpture
City model
Another view of the model
Art in the Museum - Green Man
Art - Man with red and yellow aura
Art - Woman in floral dress
Art - Man dragging cart
Art - Nutibara cacique wall
Art - Tucan wall
Tiendita of memories
Sculpture Park
The park of sculptures created in 1983 at the initiative of former Colombian president Belisario Betancur Cuartas; The Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín coordinated the assembly of a permanent exhibition of sculptures made by 10 national and international artists to be installed in the natural environment of the hill, and where visitors can appreciate them in a short tour along the slopes of the hill.
| Cerro Nutibara Sculptures Park | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Title of the work: No title Artist: Carlos Rojas (Colombia) Technical: Concrete and painted steel Dimensions: 6 x 10 x 10 meters | Title of the work: No title Artist: Alberto Uribe (Colombia) Technical: Reinforced and coloured concret Dimensions: 4.5 × 7 m |  |
 | Title of the work: Construction Artist: Manuel Felguérez (Mexico) Technical: Iron and concrete Dimensions: 4 × 6.7 × 12 m | Title of the work: No title Artist: Julio Le Parc (Argentina) Technique: aluminum-assembled glass fiber Dimensions: 6,5 × 2,7 m high |  |
 | Title of the work: Structure as vegetable Artist: Carlos Cruz-Díez (Venezuela) Technical: concrete and plants Dimensions: 3 × 20 × 10 m | Title of the work: Torre Artist: Edgar Negret (Colombia) Technique: assembled and painted aluminium Dimensions: 4 m high |  |
 | Title of the work: Signs aleteando al espacio Artist: Otto Herbert Hajek (Germany) Technical: concrete painted Dimensions: 6 m high. | Title of the work: Construction Artist: Jhon Castles (Colombia) Technical: welded steel pipe Dimensions: 3.8 m high |  |
 | Title of the work: No title Artist: Sergio de Camargo (Brazil) Technique: polished marble Dimensions: 0.7 × 0.7 × 0.7 m and 0.7 m 0.5 x 1.26 x 0.5 m | Title of the work: No title Artist: Ronny Vayda (Colombia) Technical: iron and glass Dimensions: 2,4 × 3,6 × 1,5 m (this work is not in Cerro Nutibara) |  |
| Other sculptures of Cerro Nutibara | |||
 | Title of the work: Tomás Carrasquilla (Busto) Artist: Gustavo López Technique: Bronze | Title of the work: Guillermo Zuluaga "Montecristo" (statua) Artist: (Luz María Piedrahita) Technique: bronze |  |
| Title of the work: Cacique Nutibara Artist: José Horacio Betancur Technique: skate concrete Dimensions: 3 m high x 2.9 m wide | ||
Open Air Theater “Carlos Vieco”
There is also the “Carlos Vieco” Open Air Theater, located on the north slope of Cerro Nutibara, inaugurated in 1984, its design was in charge of the Design Department of Metropolitan Planning and the acoustic shell was the work of the architect Oscar Mesa, with a capacity of 3,800 spectators, was built in homage to the composer Carlos Vieco Ortiz, a musician born in Medellín.
Offers all kinds of popular shows. Every year, in the month of June, it becomes the epicenter of the recitals of the International Poetry Festival. Rock concerts are also frequent, such as the International Speaker Festival.