In the begining

Medellín was founded in 1616 by the Spaniard Francisco Herrera Campuzano as Poblado de San Lorenzo in present-day El Poblado. In 1675 the queen Consort mariana Of austria created the Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Medellín.
In 1826 the city was named the capital of the Department of Antioqia by the National Congress of the young Republic of Greater Colombia (Gran Colombia), comprised by present day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama. After Colombia won its independence from Spain, Medellín became the capital of the Federal State of Antioquia until 1888, with the proclamation of the Conlombian Constituions Of 1886. During the 19th century, Medellín was a dynamic commercial center, first exporting gold, then producing and exporting coffee.