Mampo (or Mompoj) was the local indigenous
chieftain of the Quimbaya civilization (or Kimbaya) people when the Spanish
arrived, and Mompox means "land of the ruler Mampo". The city was
founded on May 3, 1537 by Don Alonso de Heredia as a safe port on the
Magdalena. Santa Cruz de Mompox became quite prosperous as a port for the
transportation of goods upriver into the interior. A royal mint was established
here and the town was famous for its goldsmiths. This prosperity had begun to
wane in the Nineteenth Century, but continued until early in the Twentieth
Century when the river shifted and
