Bogotá was first founded as the city of Santa Fé by Spanish colonists in the 16th century, although an indigenous presence in the region dates back more than ten thousand years, most notably with the Muisca Confederation.

Due to its rising rate of settlement and regional influence, the Spanish declared the city to be the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. During the dawn of the 19th century, Bogotá became a hub for republican and revolutionary sentiments, and after the fall of Spain to the Napoleonic armies, the Supreme Junta of the Kingdom of New Granada. The city would change hands frequently between royalists and revolutionaries during the Hispanic American wars of independence, but it would ultimately be renamed Bogotá in honor of the Muisca people and declared the capital of the new state of Colombia.

After more than 100 years of independence, Bogotá has seen a great deal of unrest and upheaval. The city is still recovering from the Bogotazo riots of 1948 and the ensuing civil conflict across Colombia. Its people still have faith in it however, and the Athens of South America marches on.