LOCATION - LOWER NEIGHBORHOOD

The neighborhood below is located in the southeast of the northern historic center.
between 40th avenue and 53rd street and between 54th career and 46th career, it borders the northeast with the

Tomás Arrieta baseball stadium or the currently Edgar Rentería stadium, the Amira theater
From La Rosa and the French Alliance, to the southwest it borders with the Metropolitan Cathedral of
Barranquilla, the Plaza de la Paz and the Bank of the Republic and to the southeast with the old
customs, San Andresito, The historic center of Barranquilla, The Caribbean Cultural Park and
the Caribbean Pilot Library.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER NEIGHBORHOOD

To understand the history and evolution of the city of Barranquilla, it is important to know the
history of the neighborhood below as it marks the beginning of economic, cultural, and industrial development,

architectural and urbanistic of the city. It must be made clear that the history of the neighborhood does not

It includes exact dates and data regarding its beginnings, therefore, it is based on the
collection of texts formed through oral testimonies and the traces they have
left its buildings and its most important streets.

During the construction of the railway line in 1889 that connected Barranquilla
with Puerto Colombia, in the vicinity of the lower neighborhood, carried out by engineer Antonio
In Armenta, a series of archaeological pieces were found (clay containers with bones
humans). Recently, during the works on the dual carriageway of Carrera 50, remains were found.
around 60,000 fragments, distributed in bone remains, vessels, wooden pieces,
shells and snails that date back approximately 700 years. The analysis of these
pieces demonstrate that there was settlement of indigenous peoples around the year 1220 A.D.
to say, long before the colonial period that Colombia experienced and of course before
that Barranquilla was initially considered as a village and later as a city.

The city of Barranquilla began to originate and develop in the late 18th century.
the area known as the site of the free (a place that has some population, albeit small, that does not
sea city, town or village with a mixed neighborhood) and very close to it and to the La Tablaza stream

or the companies began to build the neighborhood below that was close to the river
All commercial exchanges were carried out, it is stipulated that initially this area had
a population of 110 inhabitants who mostly worked as assistants in the
loading and unloading of the merchandise. Due to the demand for merchandise that was transiting through the

river port and the population increase that was rising day by day, the need was seen
to build buildings that were in line with their evolution, for which they were built
buildings like the Customs House and the Montoya Station, which became places
emblematic and great architectural symbols of the development of the city and the Abajo neighborhood
and at the same time a great historical legacy of the origin of the sector.

Very soon this port became the most important in the country and thanks to this its
development was faster compared to other cities. So it is deduced that the
The history of the neighborhood below is closely related to commercial activities, the
industrial activities, passenger transport, river navigation, construction,
the railway workshops and the Montoya station and the Customs helped in the development of the
city.

We can interpret that the lower neighborhood was not founded but rather originated due to a
invasive process that occurred due to the need for employment by residents of
surrounding populations (Mompox, Cartagena, Ciénaga, Santa Marta), seeing the boom
economic situation that was present in the city, they decided to inhabit it, but in addition to being a

workers' neighborhood, this sector received a large number of foreign population (Europe,
Africa, Asia, and America) that arrived with the intention of investing their money and that with the

they built large business empires (shipping industry, rail activity and
port services, shoe stores, textile shops, hardware stores, shops, etc.) with the help of the population
creole, and thanks to that sociocultural mix and the construction of buildings
emblematic (The Montoya Station and the Customs of Barranquilla) the lower neighborhood obtained its

self-identity.

It is important to clarify that the neighborhood below receives its designation as a neighborhood as an element.

urban of the city in the year 1857 with a document issued by the council of
Barranquilla where the first three neighborhoods of the city were segmented, which of
In a geographic and very simple manner, they were given the names; neighborhood Below the River, neighborhood

Above the River and downtown neighborhood.

In conclusion, there were several factors that contributed to the development of the city of
Barranquilla and also of the Barrio Abajo, factors such as its strategic location in the
mouth of the Magdalena River that allowed the development of port activity
and commercial, plus the start-up of the port of Barranquilla and subsequently
those located in Sabanilla and Puerto Colombia in order to resolve the problems of
communication between the sea and the river, then the construction of the railway line (1871)
that connected Barranquilla, Sabanilla, and Puerto Colombia called the Bolívar Railway and more
The construction of the dock in Puerto Colombia allowed many of the
steam navigation companies moved to Barranquilla, all of the above plus the
the relocation of customs to Barranquilla and the arrival of foreign investors were some
of the other determining factors.

The decline of Barrio Abajo occurred in 1916 when a series of

development strategies for the city of Barranquilla, but in which there was no consideration
It accounts for the neighborhood below, which by that time had managed to strengthen itself economically.

improve public services and delineate their land uses defined in mixed zones,
commercial, industrial, and residential areas that have ceased to be optimal and attractive
for the upper and middle class. This situation worsened when the river overflowed.
Magdalena leaving a large number of affected families who were forced to
to move and occupy several blocks of some neighboring lands and in this way originated
the sector called "Montecristo's Cave", which is currently known as the neighborhood
Montecristo.
Another important element that influenced the decline of the Lower Neighborhood was the project of
the urban development El Prado which began to be executed in the year 1922 by Karl Parrish, this
the project had better architectural conditions, better service conditions, had
with sewage service unlike the neighborhood below. Therefore, many of the
most important families of the upper and middle class in the lower neighborhood decided to move to live in the

the neighborhood El Prado and thus the Barrio Abajo was only inhabited by the working class and
worker of the city

By the 1940s, the commercial and industrial strength for which it was characterized
the city and the neighborhood below declined because the railway line that connected to
Barranquilla with Puerto Colombia was closed, and in this way the buildings
emblematic sites such as the Customs House and the Montoya Station remained as a mark or a

memory.

In the 1990s, the increase in public service prices and the

stratification changes led to a large percentage of the industrial and commercial sector
they left the sector, which caused the use of old industrial warehouses as storage.
it will increase, thus generating a large vacancy of properties, damaging the aesthetics of
neighborhood and affecting its security.

ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER NEIGHBORHOOD IN ITS

ANTIGUITY

The neighborhood began to form spontaneously with a property-by-property growth that

it did not obey any urban planning, but it was grouped by blocks
rectangular, their grids were formed from the banks of the river and streams to the northwest
and to the north up to Dividivi street, now Murillo street, that was the extent of the city, for the
In 1897, the neighborhood had approximately 70.81 hectares.

In 1922, the city enters a process of urban modernization with the arrival of Karl.
Parrish, with the neighborhood of El Prado being one of its most important projects. Let's remember that the

the construction of these developments caused wealthy families that lived in

The Barrio Abajo will be moved to them. By the year 1922, the Barrio Abajo had 16.42 hectares.
approximately.

In 1930, a program for paving the streets of the city began.

then the streets were named by the inhabitants.

In 1937, the names of the streets and avenues were changed, adopting the system
American numbering system currently in use.
The streets were about 5 or 6 meters wide and the sidewalks were 50.
centimeters high and were built of concrete.

By 1942, the neighborhood was divided into two with the expansion of María Avenue and the street.
Murillo.

Architecturally speaking in the Barrio Abajo, the houses presented the

characteristics of a traditional or folk architecture: thatched roofs, walls of
bahareque (Material used in the construction of houses composed of canes or sticks)
interwoven and bound with a mix of wet earth and straw), large courtyards that were
used as recreational areas since at that time the neighborhood lacked them
As the family grew, more rooms were added.

By the twenties and thirties of the 19th century, straw houses began to be replaced.
for more solid and resilient homes with better orientation. Generally, the homes
they were from a flat, with four rooms, a large patio, chicken coops, wooden troughs,
kitchen and the bathrooms that were located in the courtyards.

Several of the mansions of the most important people in the neighborhood were divided into small ones.

apartments or small rooms, this type of housing is known as The

Passages, around 10 families lived here, each family had only one.
room, and they had to share areas like bathrooms, kitchen, and drying racks, but there was another type

of apartments that had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, but of course their
the rent cost was higher. The most important streets in the Abajo neighborhood are: the
passage by Alberto Marulanda, the Santandereana passage by Rosa de Porras, Nube passage
Blanca, among others.

The neighborhood had two types of schools back then: home schools, which were
where they sent the children and there they learned the letters, the vowels and then they were sent to
the public schools where they attended elementary and middle school. The most home schools
known in the neighborhood were: that of Mrs. Lola Ujueta, located on Happiness Street
between the customs and Rosario, the school of the three Arrieta sisters, located on the street
Cisneros between the customs office and Sabanilla, Mixed preparatory school of the Bacca sisters
located on Primavera Street between Happiness and Oak.
Among the public schools for boys located in the neighborhood, we find the School.
Third located at that time in the 40s and 50s in what is today the Carnival house,
For the girls, we found the Cartagena de Indias school that was operating in a house already.
demolished that made way for the Amira de la Rosa theater.

In the neighborhood, we could also find theaters, the most notable being the Apollo Theater.
from former governor Alberto Osorio, Las Quintas theater owned by Federico Falquez and
Alberto Chewin, theater El Rialito owned by Inesita Ojeda.

There was also the Church of the Sacred Heart that housed the faithful.
from the El Rosario neighborhood.

GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF THE LOWER NEIGHBORHOOD

After conducting the previous analysis based on the text 'Urban Development of the Neighborhood'
Below Forgotten Heritage by the author Jorge Mario Vivas Pertuz, plus what was learned during
The tour of the neighborhood led us to conclude that Barrio Abajo is of great importance.
for the history of Barranquilla and has great historical value due to its testimony and
it has a value of antiquity as many of its buildings have survived over time
but they also preserve time, which makes the neighborhood an authentic piece of the
city of Barranquilla, Additionally the aesthetic characteristics of buildings such as the
Customs, the Montoya Station, the Dugand mansion, among others, make this have a
added artistic value.

As for intangible values, we know that in the Abajo neighborhood is where they arise and in
where the cultural demonstrations of tradition are most palpable
Barranquillera, so much so that it is claimed that the Barranquilla Carnival originated here, thanks
to the sociocultural construction resulting from the mixture of the Creole and foreign population
in the beginnings of the city and obviously of the neighborhood below. Therefore, it is deduced that the

Barrio Abajo has a high cultural value. On the other hand, the fact that Barrio Abajo
it has been the residence and refuge of several illustrious figures such as Gabriel García
Márquez, Esthercita Forero, Edgar Rentería and Joe Arroyo, but also of important
companies like coltabacos, pastas la insuperable, textileria filtta, diario el caribe, give them a
just to the values of the neighborhood.

All those immaterial factors such as cultural and folkloric practices, which have been
passed down from generation to generation among the inhabitants of the neighborhood, they have maintained the

identity and its memory, but regarding the material factors, we are witnesses of
the transformations of some houses, ballrooms, among other large buildings
importance in the memory of the neighborhood that have become for the use of industries and workshops,
generating in the lower neighborhoods a feeling of romanticism when seeing how the image and
the memory of his neighborhood is lost.