Колумбиядағы Текендама сарсуаты

Waterfall in Colombia

The Tequendama Falls (Lang es) is a high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. Named after the adjacent settlement of Tequendama, it holds historical significance as one of Colombia's earliest permanent settlements. One of the country's tourist attractions, the falls are located in a forested area west of Bogotá. The river surges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about at the brink of the high falls. During the month of December the falls become completely dry. The falls, once a common site for suicides, may be reached by road from Bogotá.

In Chibcha, the nameTequendama translates to: "he who precipitated downward". According to the Muisca religion, the waterfall was created by the legendary hero Bochica, who used his staff to break the rock and release the water that covered the Bogotá savanna. According to another legend, during the Spanish conquest and evangelization of the Americas, in order to escape the new colonial order indigenous people of the area would jump off the Salto Del Tequendama and become eagles to fly to their freedom.

The river that feeds the falls is currently considered to be one of the most contaminated in the world. "The Tequendama Falls has the dubious honor of being the largest wastewater falls in the world. Liquid wastes from the city are flushed untreated into the Bogotá River at the lower edge of the sabana, a few kilometers upstream of the Tequendama Falls. Downstream from Bogotá, the river is filled with sewage." A historic hotel building, now a museum that overlooks the waterfall is undergoing restoration aided by the French government.