Current Time in Popayán, Colombia

Popayán lies in the Pubenza Valley of south-western Colombia, cradled between the western and central ranges of the Andes at an altitude of about seventeen hundred metres. The elevation gives it a mild, spring-like climate all year round, and the volcanoes of Puracé and Sotará rise on the eastern horizon. It is the capital of Cauca Department and is known throughout Latin America as the White City, because almost every wall in its historic centre is painted a uniform brilliant white.

With a population of around three hundred thousand, Popayán is a modest city in size but exceptional in influence. It was one of the most important colonial centres in the Spanish Empire in South America, and its aristocratic families produced an extraordinary number of Colombian presidents, poets, scientists and archbishops, giving the city a reputation for learning and formality that it still enjoys.

The Spanish captain Sebastián de Belalcázar founded the city in 1537 on the road linking Quito with Cartagena, and its position on that gold and trade route made it wealthy. Churches, monasteries, bridges and grand houses were built through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Popayán played a leading part in the wars of independence, and in the nineteenth century it remained a centre of intellectual and political life. On Maundy Thursday in 1983 a severe earthquake destroyed much of the historic core and killed hundreds of people, but the city undertook a patient reconstruction that restored its colonial appearance with remarkable fidelity.

The whitewashed streets are the attraction in themselves. The cathedral basilica, the churches of San Francisco, Santo Domingo and La Ermita, the clock tower and the graceful brick arches of the Puente del Humilladero are the landmarks visitors seek out. The Morro de Tulcán, a pre-Hispanic earthen pyramid crowned by an equestrian statue, offers the best view over the rooftops, and the museums of religious art, natural history and the home of the poet Guillermo Valencia hold fine collections.

Popayán is best known internationally for its Holy Week processions, held every year since the sixteenth century and inscribed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Heavy platforms bearing carved images are carried through the streets at night by hooded bearers, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. The city was also the first place in the world to be named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, an honour reflecting dishes such as empanadas de pipián, carantanta and the local sweets sold in the arcades.

The Pan-American Highway passes through the city, linking it to Cali two hours north and to the Ecuadorian border to the south, and a small airport provides flights to Bogotá. The Universidad del Cauca, founded in 1827, is one of the oldest in Colombia and fills the centre with students.

Popayán combines colonial beauty, mountain air, serious scholarship and world-class festivals, making it one of the most rewarding stops in the Colombian Andes.