​MANIZALES, a city of Colombia and capital of the department of Cáldas (up to 1905 the northern part of Antioquia), 75 m. S. of Medellin, on the old trade route across the Cordillera between Honda, on the Magdalena, and the Cauca Valley. Pop. (1906, estimate), 20,000. The city is situated on a plateau of the western slope of the Cordillera, 6988 ft. above the sea. It is surrounded by rich mineral and agricultural districts.