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Before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Nutabes Indians who inhabited the territory of Santa Rosa de Osos, were fighters and agile. They worked cotton weaving and exploited gold. They had patriarchal social organization and believed in life after death, hence they buried their dead with utensils, jewelry, food and clothing.

The northern region of Antioquia where this municipality is located today is a valley that, in 1541, was discovered by the Spanish conquering captain Francisco Vallejo. The captain named it Valley of the Bears because there were many of these animals there. As early as 1600, explorers and settlers looking for gold realized the abundance of the metal in the region.

They arrived by the hundreds, led by another captain, Antonio Serrano de Espejo, who was responsible for decreeing the founding of a town on the site, in 1636, which was approved by His Majesty King Felipe IV of Spain.

In 1659 the district became a parish, under the hands of the Bishop of Popayán, Monsignor Vasco Jacinto de Contreras y Velarde, and with the name of San Jacinto de los Osos.

In 1792 it was renamed Villa de Nuestra Señora de los Osos. In 1811 it acquired the name it has today, Santa Rosa de Osos. The district was erected as a municipality in 1814 as ordered by the dictator Juan del Corral.

In 1917 the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Osos was established by order of Pope Benedict XV, appointing Monsignor Maximiliano Crespo as the first Bishop.

Around 1924, he was succeeded by Monsignor Miguel Ángel Builes Gómez, (Missionary Bishop of Colombia), who directed his destinies for more than forty years, and who also founded three religious communities of great importance for the Catholic Church.

Perhaps that is why this district acquired the nickname ´´The Religious City´´. Its history is full of facts and characters that defined its Catholic vocation and, therefore, many of its attractions have to do with religious tourism: the Cathedral, chapels and monuments that give an account of the fervor that has characterized the people of Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa is a large dairy producer, and has an immense water wealth, which has made possible the construction of reservoirs such as the Riogrande I and II Reservoirs.





Santa Rosa de Osos is a municipality of Colombia, located in the North subregion of the Antioquia department of that country. It limits to the north with the municipalities of San Andrés de Cuerquia, Yarumal, Angostura and Carolina del Príncipe, to the east with the municipalities of Carolina del Príncipe and Guadalupe, to the south with the municipalities of Donmatías, San Pedro de los Milagros and Entrerríos and to the west with the municipalities of Entrerríos, Belmira and San José de la Montaña.



Its name is due to the memory of Santa Rosa de Lima and the spectacled bears that were abundant in the region. Other names: Valley of the Bears, San Jacinto de los Osos, Villa de Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá de los Osos. The municipality has 4 townships, Aragón, Hoyorrico, San Pablo and San Isidro. It has 64 trails including: San Juan, Malambo, La Muñoz, Mina Vieja, La Veta, Guanacas, Caruquia, La Chorrera, Cucurucho, Río Grande, Santa Gertrudis, Orobajo, San José, Las Ánimas, Rionegrito, Mortiñal and Quebrada del Medio . Communications: It is communicated by road with Yarumal, Angostura, Carolina del Príncipe, Donmatías, Entrerríos and San José de la Montaña.

Demography

Total Population: 32,923 inhab. (2009)

Urban Population: 16,474

Rural Population: 16,449

Literacy: 91.3% (2005)

Urban area: 94.3%

Rural area: 88.5%

Economy

Agriculture: Potato, Corn, Fruits, Tree tomato

Livestock: Basically Milk Vaccine. In addition, Swine

Gold Mining

Manufacture of Concentrates

Industries: Apparel and Wood for Paper Manufacturing

Electric Power Generation.





Parties

Festivities of the Virgin of Mercy, from August 30 to September 8

Sunset festivities, second bridge in August, emblematic festivals of the municipality

Myths and Legends Parade, December 7

Holy Week, without a fixed date in the month of March or the beginning of April.

Gastronomy

Special in the district are the Pandequesos with hot Panela Water and Quesitos; also Dairy Products and Chorizos, among others.

Sites of interest and natural heritage

Historical artistic heritage

Porfirio Barba Jacob sculpture by Rodrigo Arenas Betancur.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá de Santa Rosa de Osos

Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy

Chapel of the Holy Family

Chapel of the Lord of Humility

House of Dr. Pedro Justo Berrío

House of Culture, Marco Tobón Mejía Integral Cultural Unit.

Municipal Government Palace, designed by Belgian architect Agustín Goovaerts

Stone bridge

Sculpture Allegory to Porfirio Barba Jacob, by the master Rodrigo Arenas Betancur

Natural heritage

Rio Grande I and II Dam

Orobajo waterfall

Hill of San José. It has cloud forest and oak groves

El Vergel watershed

Lakes of Porce.

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