El Agrado

According to oral tradition, the current territory of El Agrado, at the time of the Spanish conquest, was inhabited by the Chimbayaco, which belonged to the nation of Paez. But this can not be regarded as true as it also speaks of Yaguilgas, Yalcones and other groups belonging to the nation of Andaquíes, who lived in surrounding areas. Nor is there any documentation that describes its habitat, customs, and specific characteristics of the group Chimbayaco (across the river, Quechua).

However, in the lands that now belong to the municipality of El Agrado, have been found petroglyphs, vestiges, and footprints, which indicates that there really were Indians living in the area and that it requires further investigation to clarify their own reality. One concludes that El Agrado, especially at the time of the Conquest, was visited in and out by Aboriginal people occasionally to organize and defend themselves when they were attacked from Timan by Pedro de Añasco and Juan de Ampudia.

The history of El Agrado as an urban area began in the mid-eighteenth century (1753) as a result of the segregationist unrest between whites and Indians, which led to clashes which continued until the beginning of 1950. The Hacienda Chimbayaco, property of the Field Master Juan Losada Young, is the starting point for the development of El Agrado, when, on May 7, 1753, he gave the land known as the plain of Chimbayaco (also known as the Valley of the alfandoques), jurisdiction of the town of Timan, where lived the whites of the parish of Pital who lived with the Indians from Paez.

So thrived the nucleus of people and goods, that 54 years later, José Antonio Barreiro, Camilo Carvajal, Joaquin Polo, Augustine Ramirez and Pedro Osorio revived the need to establish a vice-parish in the plain of Chimbayaco, and donated land for this purpose. The Viceroy Amar y Borbon, who reported to the Bishop of Popayán, ordered the creation of the vice-parish, under the protection of Nuestra señora de Belén, but still dependent on the parish of Pital. The new town (Belén) was named after Bethlehem (May 18, 1807).

In 1818, before the growth of the town, they felt the need for a larger temple with its population size and economic capacity of the moment. The proposal was made by Rafael Chávarro, on behalf of the parishioners, and it was accepted by the Bishop of Jimenez after a visit. After 40 years, the Vice-parish of Nuestra señora de Belén was converted into a Parrish District on April 5, 1837. According to the Esquema de Ordenamiento Territorial (E.O.T.), El Agrado has a population of 9,461 inhabitants, of which 50.80% live in the town center and the remaining 49.19% in the surrounding rural areas. Its most populated streets are El Astillero, La Maria, Montesitos, La Cañada, La Escalereta, and San José de Belén.