The ruins of the La Siberia cement factory
The plant, located 5 kilometers from La Calera, where the Chingaza moor is born, operated for almost 100 years and was the first cement industry in the country.
Article taken from the newspaper El Espectador by
Alejandro Silva*
10 de mayo de 2016 - 04:49 p. m.
A good amount of cement was extracted from the La Siberia cement plant that served to turn Bogotá into the largest mass of concrete and asphalt in Colombia. In the surrounding areas, a town also called La Siberia was built, which today is abandoned and is rumored to be inhabited by ghosts. The few who have heard about the factory know it for the paranormal stories, not for the job opportunities it gave to the peasants, nor for the mark it left on the wasteland, the health of the workers, the calerunos, the animals and the Chingaza vegetation. Only its ruins and the memories of those who worked there remain of the factory.
Cementos Samper was the first company to exploit limestone in Colombia, which was extracted from the Palacio mine, located in the heart of the paramo. The stone was transported by mules to Bogotá, where the cement was manufactured on Calle 15 and Carrera 17. The trip to the center of the city at that time was quite long, the farmers had to travel long distances through the forest and swamp, not There were so many streets and roads, Bogota residents moved by tram, horses and mules.
