Puente de Boyacá
national monument of Colombia
The Puente de Boyacá (in English: Bridge of Boyacá) is a bridge located 110 km east of Bogotá and 14 km west from Tunja in a valley, crossing the Teatinos River near the Pan-American Highway. It was the site of the historic battle of August 7, 1819, known as the Battle of Boyacá, which granted independence to New Granada.
History
The bridge was built in the early 18th century over the Teatinos River.
Battle of Boyacá
During the Colombian War of Independence, General Simon Bolivar led a campaign to liberate New Granada from the Spanish reconquest. In 1819, both revolutionary and royalist forces were racing towards Santa Fe, the capital, which was only defended by 400 Spanish troops.
On the day of the battle, the III Division of the Spanish Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme, commanded by Spanish Colonel José Barreiro, set out on one of the last legs of their journey towards Santa Fe, which involved crossing the Teatinos River over the bridge. Bolivar's troops, commanded by General Francisco de Paula Santander were close, however, and were able to intercept the royalist forces.
The Spanish advance force had crossed the bridge by the time the revolutionaries had caught up with them, which resulted in a battle of the vanguards over the bridge while the main forces engaged nearby. Following a crossing of the bridge to attack the Spanish, the result of the battle was a decisive victory for Santander; 1800 Spanish prisoners along with the Spanish commander were captured.
Within days, Viceroy Juan de Samano was informed of Barreiro's defeat and prepared a hasty escape from Santa Fe, enabling Bolivar's forces to take the capital with no resistance.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Puente de Boyacá” is national monument of Colombia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Puente, Boyacá and national, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “national monument of Colombia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3396894. Authority coordinates are 5.451, -73.430. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1819 and 1800.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Puente de Boyacá” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.