Cali

Received from: Colombia
Category: from a friend
Date: December 2013

Cali is the shortened form of the official name of the city: Santiago de Cali. "Santiago" honours Saint James (Santiago in Spanish) whose feast day is celebrated on 25 July. The origin of the word "Cali" comes from the local native Indian tribe the "Calima" or "Calimas" descendants of the Chibcha tribe. Some believe that the word "Cali" has Quechua origin, and was brought by the Yanaconas Indians that came from Quito serving Sebastián de Belalcázar. This theory is related to the fact that near Quito there is an indigenous town named Calacali.