Pasto, Colombia

Pasto refers to the indigenous people who inhabited the region at the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Pastos. However, the Atriz Valley was inhabited by the Quillacingas.

Pasto was founded in 1537 by the Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar. In 1539 another Spanish conquistador Lorenzo de Aldana moved the city to its current location, and established it under the name "San Juan de Pasto". A major contributor to the economy and expansion of Pasto was a man of Italian origin named Guido Bucheli.

It has been an administrative, cultural and religious center of the region since colonial times. Because of this, the city is known as the theological city of Colombia. During the Independence Wars against Spain Pasto was a royalist city. Partly due to this political stance, and because of its geographical location, after independence, Pasto remained isolated for a long time from the rest of Colombia.

Most of the city lies between 2,520 metres (8,270 ft) and 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) elevation above sea level, while some settlement exceeds 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) on the flanks of the Galeras Volcano, which stands at 4,276 metres (14,029 ft).

Overview of Pasto, from the north of the city.

Under the Köppen climate classification, Pasto features an unusual altitude-influenced Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csb) that tends to possess the wet season with the southern hemisphere, for example the section of Quito that is south of the equator. Pasto has relatively consistent temperatures throughout the course of the year. Despite the fact that the city is located close to the equator, due to its high altitude, Pasto's average high temperatures typically range only between 15 °C and 18 °C while average low temperatures are usually between 9 °C and 11 °C. Pasto averages roughly 800  mm of precipitation annually.

In the municipality, 11.1% of establishments are dedicated to industry; 56.0% to trade; 28.9% to services and 4.1% to other activities.

In urban areas, the main economic activities are trade and service industries, as well as some small businesses, about half of which are craft manufacturing. The larger companies in Nariño are located in Pasto and are largely involved with food, beverages and furniture production. For the development of trade, mainly with the neighboring country of Ecuador, there are several shopping centers. The Pasto Chamber of Commerce was established in 1918 and according to the 2008 yearbook had 14,066 commercial establishments of which 58.5% were engaged in trade and repair of vehicles. In the rural areas, there is predominantly farming and cattle ranching, as well as a small-scale mining industry.[6]

The majority of the institutions that make up the health network of Nariño department are located in Pasto. These comprise 6 hospitals and 4 clinics for levels of attention 2 and 3. For levels of attention 1 there are 7 health centres and 2 health stations. In total these provide 1332 hospital beds to meet the demand of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, and basic psychiatric service.

In the city, public institutions are organized into four networks for the delivery of their services. The northern network is coordinated by the Civil Hospital including three health posts and a center. The southern network, coordinated by the Health Center of the Rose includes three health posts, a center, and a mobile unit. The southeastern network, coordinated by the Lorenzo de Aldana Health Center includes five health posts and a center. The west network coordinated by the Tamsagra Health Center includes five health centers and the Center for Zoonoses.[7]

The main hospitals are:

• University Hospital Department of Nariño HUDN
• Clinic Our Lady of Fatima
• St. Peter's Hospital Foundation
• Children's Hospital Los Angeles
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mental Hospital (women's mental health)
• San Rafael de Pasto Hospital (male mental health)
• Civil Hospital

There are several universities with students from Pasto and from other cities in Nariño, some of them are:

• University of Nariño
• Universidad Mariana
• Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia
• Fundación Universitaria San Martin [8]
• Institución Universitaria Cesmag
• Universidad Antonio Nariño
• Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia - UNAD
• Escuela Superior de Administración Pública - ESAP
• Corporación Universitaria Autónoma de Nariño [9]

Carnival float Pasto, Colombia

One of the most important events held by the city is the Blacks and Whites' Carnival (Carnaval de Negros y Blancos in Spanish), with outstanding displays of craftsmanship in floats portraying legends and traditions, often mixed in with references to current political events in Colombia. During the carnival, the city goes wild and unleashes all the joy it has bottled up all year. It is not advisable to wear nice clothes during this festival, as during these celebrations people have fun painting each other's faces with cosmetic colors (skin safe and created for this special purpose) and throwing talcum powder and party foam. The carnival takes place between January 2 and 7 each year.

A specialty of this region is a pre-Columbian art technique called Barniz de Pasto, or Pasto Varnish in English. This uses a type of natural rubber (extracted from a tree called mopa-mopa) which is colored and then stretched over woodwork pieces; finally, the skillful artisan uses a special knife to cut and create the many beautiful designs that characterize this artistic technique.

La Cocha is a lake in the Andes mountains, in the South of Colombia. It is 2.800 meters over the sea level.

The main attraction in the town of Pasto is Lake Guamuez or La Cocha lake, located 27 kilometers from the city, 45 minutes by road, and 2800 meters over the sea level. On the site, you can enjoy the scenery, food (especially rainbow trout), fishing and boating. In the middle of the lake, there is the Island of La Corota, a National Forest Sanctuary.

For lovers of cultural tourism, in addition to its museums mentioned above, the city offers visitors a wealth of churches among which stands out the Church of San Juan Bautista of the eighteenth century, the cathedral, the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, the Church of San Felipe, the Church of San Sebastián or "the Bakery", Temple of Christ the King, St. James, and the Church of St. Augustine.

For ecotourism, there is the Chimayoy Environmental Center, meaning in Quillacinga "go to meet with the sun." Located 4 km on the road between San Juan de Pasto in Colombia's interior is a space provided for education, tourism and environmental research, and ecological conservation, has long nature trails and diverse activities that seek methodologically integration of individuals and the community with the environment, promoting and strengthening ecological projects.

Women preparing typical local food: roast guinea pig, boiled chicken, boiled potatoes, toasted maize, pork crackling, suckling pig and maize pasties.

The dishes that most represent the gastronomy of Pasto are the products of mixed cultures, the expression of the land's fertility and the hard work of the people. The most typical is grilled or roasted guinea pig (locally called 'cuy'). On January 7th, they celebrate the festival of the guinea pig in the nearby village of Catambuco as the culmination of the "Blacks and Whites Carnival". Among the typical outstanding desserts are: "bucket ice-cream", made in a copper bucket cooled with crushed ice; 'chilacuán', a dessert made with mountain papayas; and dough-based pastries, of which 'quimbolitos' and filled pasties (empanadas de añejo) are the best known.

Some of the typical drinks are made of heated juice of, for example, lulo, mora (similar to blackberries) and passion fruit. These make the base of a drink that may be strengthened by a local liquor called chapil or aguardiente.

"Libertad" Departmental Stadium.

San Juan de Pasto has developed an extensive sports culture, both recreational and competitive. Football is one of the main sports practiced in the city since November 1909 when Leslie Osmond Spain, a British citizen who was visiting the area for commercial purposes, organised a football match in a makeshift court in the Barrio of San Andrés, and three months into his stay in the city formed the first football team.[10]

The city is home to Deportivo Pasto, a team founded in 1949, which remained outside the professionals until 1996 when it ascended to the Primera B and two years later was promoted to the Primera A league of Colombian professional football. In June 2006, they were crowned champions, earning a spot to compete in the 2007 Copa Libertadores. In 2009, they won second place in the Copa Colombia, losing from the collections of the maximum penalty against Santa Fe and in the same year relegated to Primera B. Pasto regained its first place in category A in December 2011, when they beat Patriotas Boyacá.

Pasto is home to many outstanding athletes, which include the race walker Luis Fernando López (medalist in the World Athletics Championships 2011), footballers Carlos Daniel Hidalgo (scorer of the FIFA U-17 World Cup of 2003), the cyclist Carlos Ramirez Campaña, Hernán Pantoja and Miguel Cabrera, among others.

In Pasto, as in other towns of Nariño and in some regions of Ecuador, a traditional sport, very old and unparalleled in other regions of Colombia called Chaza is practiced. Chaza is a ball game, similar to tennis or jai alai, characterized by the use of heavy wood and leather shoe called drums and played in teams on a rectangular earthen court.

• Pasto travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Photos of the "Carnaval de Blancos y Negros"
• Universidad de Nariño
• Photos Carnaval de Negros Y Blancos Pasto
• Mayor's office
• Pasto Volcanological and Seismological Observatory - INGEOMINAS
• Sobre el barniz de Pasto
• Pasto Weather