The history of the city goes back to the pre-Columbian era, in which the current city area was inhabited by the Quimbaya and Pijao cultures, widely recognized for their goldsmiths. In this region, Marshal Jorge Robledo founded the city of Cartago (Carthage) on August 9, 1540, but due to the siege of the pijaos or reasons of economic expediency this city was moved in 1691 to the site that currently occupies the north end of the Valley of the Cauca, towards the banks of the La Vieja river. The original site became jungle again and buried the remains of civilization. On the few ruins of the Spanish population, crossed by the route that led from Valle del Cauca to Medellín, through Manizales, a group of 20 Antioqueno families had already built their homes when a handful of Vallecaucanos appeared to find the population of Carthage La Vieja, today Pereira. Although the formal foundation came from the Caucano group, the emergence of Pereira was another chapter of the Antioqueno colonization, and the contribution of other social groups such as the Caucano was in its beginning relatively scarce.