Travel Guide Cúcuta

This border city located 621 km from Bogotá and 550 km from Caracas, has more than one million inhabitants with its metropolitan area, including a very large Venezuelan population. The city was founded in 1733 on the territory of the Cucuta Indians. In 1875, the city was destroyed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt in the style of large industrial cities, with wide avenues and large plazas. Cúcuta is proud to be the birthplace of Francisco de Paula Santander, hero of the independence wars, who was born here in 1792. The capital of Northern Santander derived its main activity from its location on the border with Venezuela, a country with which it had strong commercial ties. It is currently suffering the consequences of the political and economic crisis that the neighboring country is experiencing, with frequent border closures and waves of migrants coming in search of work, food or medicine.