POPAYAN, a city of the republic of Colombia, capital of the state of Cauca, is situated in 2° 26' N. lat. and 76° 49' W. long., at a height of 5948 feet (E. André, 1876), on the banks of one of the head streams of the Cauca in the great plain in the heart of the cordilleras. It was founded by Belalcazar in 1538 on the site of an Indian settlement, and in 1558 it received a coat of arms from the king of Spain and the title of “Muy noble y muy leal” Pope Paul III. made it a bishop’s see in 1547. By means of its gold mines and its share in the commerce between Quito and the valley of the Magdalena Popayan became a large and flourishing city; but political disturbances and earthquakes (1827 and 1834) have reduced it to a place of 7000 to 10,000 inhabitants (8485 in 1870). It has a cathedral built by the Jesuits, several considerable churches, two seminaries founded about 1870 by French Lazarists (who occupy and have restored the old Jesuit convent), a mint, and a bank. The university was at one time celebrated; and the city is the birthplace of Caldas the astronomer and Mosquera the geographer.

The volcano of Purace, 20 miles south-east of the town, had according to Caldas a height of 17,000 feet, but André’s measurement gave only 16,102 feet. From a vent 6 feet across at a height of 14,970 feet (Boussingault, 1831) steam and gas are discharged with violence sufficient to blow a man away like a straw. On the flanks of the mountain are several hot sulphurous springs and those of Coconuco are frequented by the Colombians.