The Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Benalcázar (died 1551) conquered large areas of Colombia and founded several cities in South America.

Sebastián de Moyano, the original name of Benalcázar, was probably born at Belalcázar in Estremadura, Spain. The year is sometimes given as 1495, but his own statement that he reached Santo Domingo (Hispaniola), in 1507, presumably as an adult, points to a considerably earlier birth date. Of poor parents, and originally a manual laborer, he adopted the name of his birthplace.

Benalcázar is known to have been at Nombre de Diós on the Isthmus of Panama in 1511, and he probably served with the explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Under Pedrarias he went to Central America and took part in the founding of León, Nicaragua. On returning to Panama, he joined Francisco Pizarro...