Juan de Céspedes Ruiz

Juan (Francisco) de Céspedes Ruiz (1501 or 1505[2] in Argamasilla de Calatrava, Castile – 1573 or 1576 in Bogotá, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador who is known as the founder of the town of Pasca, Cundinamarca, in the south of the Bogotá savanna, Colombia.

Juan de Céspedes married Isabel Romero, one of the first Spanish women who arrived at Colombian territories and had two legitimate sons and one daughter.

After the Spanish king Carlos V installed García de Lerma as governor of Santa Marta on December 20, 1527, the latter named Juan de Céspedes Captain of the Infantry and sent him on an expedition into the Valle-Dupar, Pocigüeyca, a village south of Santa Marta towards Ciénaga, and the Magdalena River.

[13][14] As a result of his bravery during this harsh conquest, De Céspedes was awarded the encomiendas of Ubaque, Chipaque, Quetame and Subachoque, to the east of and on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense.

In this year, the conquistadors, among which De Céspedes, asked the King of Spain to construct a hospital in Bogotá.

He constructed the chapel thanking the Saint of Thunder, as he escaped death of a lightning strike at that place.

The marriage of De Céspedes and Romero was the first wedding in the New Kingdom of Granada, together with Lope Rioja and Elvira Gutiérrez.

[21] The couple had two sons, Antonio and Lope, and De Céspedes one stepdaughter; María, daughter of Isabel Romero and her first husband who was given the last name of Juan.

[7][22][23] Lope (Gutiérrez) de Céspedes served as mayor of Bogotá from 1577 to 1578 and in 1605 and Antonio held the same position from 1591 to 1592 and 1596 to 1597.