Sonson

Sonson was founded in 1800 and became one of the centres from which Antioquian settlers pushed south into what is now the coffee region - the colonisation that produced Manizales, Pereira and the towns of Caldas and Quindio started substantially from towns like this one. It sits at around 2,500 metres on a plateau, which makes it cold. An earthquake in July 1962 destroyed the cathedral and damaged much of the centre; the church was rebuilt and the town carries both surviving colonial fabric and mid-century replacement side by side. A museum covers the settler period and the earthquake. Paramo and cloud forest rise above the town, and the Paramo de Sonson is a source area for several rivers.

What you actually see

• A settler town of 1800 - a starting point for the southern colonisation.
• Earthquake damage and rebuilding - the 1962 shock and its replacements.
• A cold plateau at 2,500 metres - unlike the coffee country below.
• Paramo above the town - source of several rivers.

When to go

Year round; it is cold and often wet. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is genuinely cold and rainy - not the warm Antioquia visitors expect. The 1962 earthquake removed much of the old centre. Roads from Medellin are winding. It is off the tourist circuit.

Nearby

La Ceja is north-west; the Caldas coffee towns are south.