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
