Montería

Montería, city, northwestern Colombia, and an inland port on the Sinú River. In 1744 a Spanish conquistador, Juan de Torrezar Díaz Pimienta, claimed a Zenúe Indian village, which he called San Jerónimo de Buenavista. Used as a hunter’s rendezvous, the settlement came to be known as San Jerónimo de Montería, or simply Montería (“Hunting”). In 1784 Antonio de La Torre y Miranda established a municipality, but shortly thereafter, its buildings were burned by the Zenúes. The Spanish governor chose Pedro Pardo, a Franciscan friar, to supervise restoration; because of his work, Montería was made a diocesan see. Local activities include stock raising, lumbering, placer mining, and the production of quinine and tagua nuts (vegetable ivory). The city is the seat of the University of Córdoba (1966). Pop. (2003 est.) 264,252.