File number: cle0020m

©

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1509-1579). At the age of 26 he was Chief Justice of Santa Marta at that time a Spanish possession on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. In 1536 when the huge interior of the land was unknown Jiménez de Quesada set out with about 900 soldiers and headed south following the Magdalena river. In 1538 he founded the city of Bogotá.