Before the arrival of the Spanish Pachavita
was populated by Chibcha . In 1536 they raided the department of Boyacá Spanish
troops commanded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada . The following year, on 24 June
1537 , passed through the territory of Pachavita departing from Turmequé to
Tenza and Garagoa , heading Somondoco , where he had been informed of the
existence of emeralds . The first village headman, Francisco Antonio Ramirez,
was appointed in December 1793 the town was erected as a parish in 1796
