A Short History of the Guatapé Reservoir and the Town of El Peñol
The wide sheet of water outside our window is a reservoir, not a natural lake. It was built between 1970 and 1978 as part of a hydroelectric project that today supplies a meaningful share of Colombia's electricity.
A town underwater
The original town of El Peñol sat lower in the valley than the current one. As the dam filled, its streets, church and plaza were submerged; residents relocated uphill and rebuilt a 'New Peñol' with a near-identical street plan, a decision still visible in local maps today.
What Guatapé inherited
Guatapé, on the eastern edge of the reservoir, avoided being submerged but absorbed much of the region's tourism as the lake became a destination in its own right — its coves, islands and calm water drawing weekend visitors from Medellín, about two hours away.
Living with the trade-off
It's a complicated history — real displacement in exchange for electricity and, eventually, a tourism economy neither town originally asked for. We don't think that context should be footnoted; it's part of what makes the water outside worth sitting beside.
