Abstract

MARTINEZ-MARTIN, Abel Fernando  and  OTALORA-CASCANTE, Andrés Ricardo. “The Celestial Republic”. The hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Boyacá in Tunja (1919). Anu.hist.reg.front. [online]. 2023, vol.28, n.1, pp.45-75.  Epub Dec 16, 2022. ISSN 0122-2066.  https://doi.org/10.18273/revanu.v28n1-2023003.

This article narrates the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Boyacá in the city of Tunja in 1919, Colombia. Boyacá’s capital was nearing the end of a decade of national celebrations and urban reforms in which parks, squares, avenues, and monuments honoring independence heroes sprouted up and were added to the city’s colonial landmarks. Despite budgetary difficulties and unfinished projects, archival sources evidence that the Conservative Government and the Catholic Church included in the urban scheme of Tunja the discourse of independence and its Hispanic tradition to give the image of a united nation, Catholic, at peace, and headed towards progress. The contradictions and problems of this celebration highlight the existence of fissures in the imagined community of this “celestial republic”.

Keywords : Colombia; National History; Historic sites; National holiday; Battle of Boyaca centenary; Tunja.

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