The Spanish Discovered Medellin in August, 1541, Marshal Jorge Robledo was in what is now known as the municipality of Heliconia, Antioquia, it lies just west of Medellin. Robledo saw what he thought was a valley in the distance. Robledo sent Jerónimo Luis Tejelo to survey the region.
On August 23rd Tajelo came up on the plain which is now Medellin. The Spaniards dubbed it the Valley of Saint Bartholomew. The name was soon changed to its native name Aburrá. In the native tongue Aburrá means “the painters,” due to the textile decorations of the native people.
Today you can see the bust of Marshal Jorge Robledo in down town. You can find it near the intersection of Oriental Avenue and La Playa Avenue alongside other important figures in the development of Medellin.
Glossary
Survey: is a verb and is synonymous with explore.
Came up on: is a phrasal verb meaning to reach, or get near to.
Dubbed: is the bast tense of the verb to dub. To dub means to give an official name to someone or something.
Due to: is a connector used to indicate result similar to because of.
Bust: in this case is used as a noun. A bust is a sculpture of a persons upper torso, head, and sometimes shoulders.
Alongside: is a preposition synonymous with next to.
About the Medellin Buzz
The Medellin Buzz is for English as a Second Language students to practice and learn with. The Medellin Buzz is written in a way that is easy to understand. The difficult vocabulary words are in bold, these words are defined in the Glossary.