Barichara

The land around Barichara belonged to the Guane people before the Spanish conquest, and the nearby village of Guane was founded in 1540. Barichara itself grew from a legend. In the early 18th century — in 1702, according to the story — a peasant is said to have seen the Virgin Mary, whose image appeared carved on a stone. The rock became an object of worship and the villagers decided to build a church, though the local priest did not believe in the miracle, and the Church never accepted the image.

The parish was established in 1751. It was first called Vare-Florence, then Vara-echada, and finally Barichara, which means "place of rest" in the Guane language. The town was built almost entirely of local yellow stone: streets, houses, churches and the cemetery. Barichara was also the birthplace of Aquileo Parra, President of Colombia from 1876 to 1878, whose house is one of the sights of the town.

On 3 August 1978 the historic centre was declared a national monument, recognised as a prime example of informal urban development in the Andalusian style, with its original 18th-century layout and late-colonial architecture well preserved. Since then tourism has become the town's main business, and Barichara has been used as a location for telenovelas and films.

Stone defines Barichara. Its streets, houses and churches are built of the same yellow stone, and the cathedral stands on ten monolithic columns, each five metres high. The cemetery is known for its grilles and windows. The town is widely considered one of the best-preserved and most beautiful colonial villages in Colombia, and that reputation has made it a setting for television and cinema, as well as a host of film festivals — among them the Festival de Cine Verde — theatre and other events.

The Guane past is part of local identity. Barichara's name comes from the Guane language, the archaeological museum in Guane keeps the memory of the people who lived here before the Spanish, and the hormigas culonas eaten in the town are a Guane tradition.

Santandereanos are known across Colombia for bluntness and a quick temper. Catholic tradition is strong, and the legend of the Virgin of the Rock remains part of the town's story.

Barichara's people are divided between the stone-built town and the farms of the surrounding countryside in the province of Guanentá. San Gil, 21 km away by paved road, is the nearest larger town for shopping and services, and Bucaramanga, the department capital, is about 110 km away.

Tourism dominates the economy: guesthouses in old houses, restaurants, craft shops, guides and the buses that shuttle to San Gil every 20 to 30 minutes. The historic centre is a protected national monument, so the town's old houses have been kept rather than replaced. The Guane heritage survives in names, food and crafts, and a small number of people in Santander still identify as Guane — about 812 in a 2005 national estimate — living mainly in Bucaramanga, Barichara and other towns of the department.

The pace is slow on weekdays, when the streets are quiet. At weekends and on holidays visitors from Bogotá and Bucaramanga arrive in numbers, and walkers set out on the Camino Real to Guane.

Barichara shares the cooking of the Guanentá province of Santander, among the most distinctive in the country. Carne oreada is a local classic; mute is a hearty soup of maize, pork and vegetables; cabro is roast goat, served with pepitoria, a rice dish made with the animal's blood and offal. Sancocho stew, caldo de huevo — an egg broth — and tamales are everyday dishes.

The arepa santandereana is made from cooked maize dough shaped by hand and cooked on a tiesto, a round, slightly concave clay griddle made in the Guane manner and set directly over the fire. The most famous local food is hormigas culonas: large queen ants, a traditional food of the Guane people, whose heads, wings and legs are removed before the bodies are fried or toasted and seasoned with salt. They are a seasonal snack around Barichara and San Gil, the main centres of production.

Traditional drinks include masato, a fermented drink, guarapo, made from fermented cane juice, and aguapanela, hot or cold water sweetened with panela, unrefined cane sugar.