Colombia's White City — a colonial gem of whitewashed churches and arcaded plazas, UNESCO-recognized gastronomy, and Holy Week processions that rival Seville's
Popayán (pop. 340,000) in southern Colombia's Cauca department is called 'La Ciudad Blanca' (The White City) because of a colonial tradition of whitewashing every building facade — an effect that makes the city's 16th-century churches, municipal buildings, and arcaded central plaza appear carved from a single piece of ivory. Founded by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar in 1537, Popayán became one of colonial Colombia's most important cities (eight Colombian presidents were born here). The city is also recognized by UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy — Cauca's indigenous, Spanish, and…
Popayán was founded in 1537 by Sebastián de Belalcázar on the site of an existing indigenous settlement in the Pubenza River valley, at an elevation of 1,738 m in the western Andes. The city's strategic location on the route between Quito and Bogotá made it enormously wealthy during the colonial era — gold from the mines of Cauca flowed through the city, funding the construction of the Baroque churches and palaces that survive today. Eight Colombian presidents were born here, earning Popayán the nickname 'Ciudad Docta' (The Learned City) alongside its white-building moniker. A devastating ear…