Villavicencio

For many decades after the German conquistador Nikolaus Federmann crossed the plains from Venezuela to the Bogotá plateau in 1536, the Llanos below the Eastern Andes stayed largely unsettled. Colombia's life was in the mountain valleys, and the heat, the mountain barrier and the climate kept the plains a forgotten frontier, though their llanero horsemen fought on both sides of the wars of independence and crossed the Andes with Bolívar in 1819.

Villavicencio began in the 1840s, when farmers from Cáqueza, on the eastern slopes behind Bogotá, started a small settlement called Gramalote; the city counts 6 April 1840 as its founding date. It became a parish in 1855 and was named after Antonio Villavicencio, a patriot of the independence war. In the 1850s it had no more than about 20 inhabitants, but vaccines, a mule road and plenty of free land drew more settlers, and as roads improved, farmers could send produce and cattle up to the markets of Bogotá.

After 1948, during La Violencia, the llanero guerrillas drove the army out of towns across the plains; they never took Villavicencio but brought the fighting to the nearby Apiay military base, until the 1953 coup brought Gustavo Rojas Pinilla to power and an amnesty. Oil and gas from the Apiay field, cattle and agriculture then fuelled growth to over 500,000 people by 2018. A new road of bridges and tunnels shortened the drive to Bogotá. In 2025 an earthquake centred in neighbouring Cundinamarca damaged two shopping centres and brought down a water tank in the city.

Villavicencio calls itself La Puerta al Llano, the Gateway to the Plains, and affectionately Villavo la bella. Like the rest of the eastern plains it is a land of migrants: people from the Andean interior and the coasts have settled here since its founding and taken on llanero ways. Mamona, coleo, cockfighting, joropo, legends and the poncho are the markers of that culture, which locals see as struggling against modern urban life.

Joropo is everywhere. The International Joropo Tournament, held in the first week of July, is the biggest cultural event in Meta, with contests for harpists, maraca players, singers and improvised contrapunteo duels, and the Joropódromo, when more than 3,000 couples dance through the streets. In March, the Concurso Mundial de la Mujer Vaquera at Parque Las Malocas celebrates the skills of llanera women on horseback. The city's monuments honour the same identity, from the Centauros sculpture of a cowboy merged with his horse to the axe in Parque del Hacha recalling the first settlers.

The city is the main university centre of the plains, with the public University of the Llanos and several private institutions drawing students from neighbouring departments. Llaneros F.C., the professional football club, plays in Colombia's top division at the Bello Horizonte stadium.

The municipality had about 531,000 people in 2018, and Villavicencio is the most important commercial centre of the eastern plains and the main collection and supply point for the towns of the Orinoco region.

Cattle, agriculture and crude oil drive the economy, with gas and oil from the Apiay field, but most jobs are in commerce and services. Construction is a major activity, and the roads that carry the produce of the plains up to Bogotá and the interior keep the trade moving. Tourism is growing in the city and in neighbouring towns such as Acacías, Cumaral, Restrepo and Puerto López.

The city is very hot for most of the day, and life adjusts to it: the breezes that come off the foothills in the morning and at nightfall bring relief, and minibuses, some lit up after dark, carry people across town. Weekend nights mean dancing in the clubs of 7 de Agosto, music and roast meat.

Villavicencio's food is the food of the plains. Carne a la llanera — also called mamona or ternera a la llanera — is its signature: veal from a calf slaughtered while still suckling, roasted over wood and seasoned only with salt and beer, served with cassava, potatoes and plantain, and sometimes with a chilli sauce and a beer or panela lemonade. It is eaten at the Joropódromo, birthday parties and family gatherings, and the city has a wide choice of grills that serve it.

Pan de arroz, a snack of rice and curd, is the local speciality bread, the subject of a special safeguard plan before the Ministry of Culture. Rice arepas, cassava bread, tungos and soups such as sancocho and pajarilla broth complete the everyday table, along with river fish.

Drinks include guarulo, masato, lemonade made with panela, guarapo de piña and café cerrero, while the local spirits are Aguardiente Llanero and Ron San Martín Añejo. In the evenings, street-food stalls line Calle 15 near the bus terminal.