Pueblito Paisa

Pueblito Paisa is a replica town in Medellín, Colombia that shows what a typical town in Antioquia, Colombia looked like during the late 1800's and early 1900's. In the picture below, you can see that it is located just southwest of the center of Medellín.

Antioquia is a departamento, or department, which is the equivalent of a state in the United States, in Colombia. There are 32 departments in Colombia. The departments used to be known as states, but when Colombia redesigned itself from the United States of Colombia to the Republic of Colombia in 1886, it rebranded the states as departments.

Paisa is a word and anthropological denomination that refers to the people and culture of the mountainous region of northwestern Colombia. 

In the previous picture, you saw the 32 departments, or manmade sections, of Colombia. But, we know that culture is not confined to manmade borders. In the first picture below, you can see the six natural regions of Colombia, one of which is the Andes, or mountainous region. Obviously, geography plays a major role in the development of culture. Life in this mountainous region of Colombia has unique characteristics (ways of speaking, daily routines, cuisine, architecture, etc.) and the people who live here have become known as Paisas. The second picture shows more specifically the region where Paisas live.

The word paisa comes from paisano, which means peasant, countryman, or field worker in Spanish. 

Pueblito Paisa is located on top of a cerro, or hill, called Cerro Nutibara. We walked to the site and up the hill because we were coming from a hostel that wasn't very far away, Medellín is very walkable, and we were ready for the exercise, but the hill is steep, so if you wanted, you could also get a taxi to take you to the top of the hill. Pueblito Paisa is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Medellín, so there will likely be taxis near the base of the hill ready to transport tourists.

Pueblo means "town," so pueblito means "little town." In this little town at the top of the hill, you can tour a church, house, and plaza that will help you understand what life in Antioquia around the turn of the 20th century was like. As a tourist destination, there are also shops and restaurants.

Pueblito Paisa is also an attraction because, as it is located on top of a hill, it offers scenic views of Medellín.

The hill on top of which Pueblito Paisa is built, Cerro Nutibara, is named for Cacique (chief) Nutibara. Cacique Nutibara was chief of the Catíos tribe, the indigenous people who occupied modern day Antioquia at the time of Spanish arrival to this area. In 1538, he was assassinated by a Spanish army.