Sights in North Of Bogotá
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Parque El Gallineral
San Gil’s showpiece is the mystical Parque El Gallineral, a 4-hectare park set on a triangle-shaped island between two arms of the Quebrada Curití and Río Fonce. Nearly all of the 1876 trees are covered with long silvery tendrils of moss called barbas de viejo, or old man’s beard, hanging from branches to form translucent curtains of foliage and filtered sunlight. It’s like a scene set in JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Several paths and covered bridges snake through the urban forest and over the rapids. After your hike, relax with a swim in the large spring-fed pool or sip a cerveza at one of the pricey restaurants and cafes.
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Estación Astronómica Muisca (El Infiernito)
The Estación Astronómica Muisca (El Infiernito) dates from the early centuries AD and, like a sort of Stonehenge, was used by the Indians to determine the seasons. The site contains 30-odd cylindrical stone monoliths sunk vertically into the ground about 1m from each other in two parallel lines 9m apart.
By measuring the length of shadows cast by the stones, the Indians were able to identify the planting seasons. The complete lack of shadow (corresponding to the sun's zenith), which occurred for a short instant twice a year, on a day in March and September, is thought to have been the time for great festivities.
The observatory was also a ritual site, a fact that got in …
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Convento del Santo Ecce Homo
The Convento del Santo Ecce Homo, founded by the Dominican fathers in 1620, is a large stone-and-adobe construction with a lovely courtyard. The floors are paved with stones quarried in the region, so they contain ammonites and fossils, including petrified corn and flowers. There are also fossils in the base of a statue in the chapel.
The chapel boasts a magnificent gilded main retable with a small image of Ecce Homo and the original wooden ceiling. Look out for the drawing of Christ in west cloister - from different angles it appears that the eyes will open and close.
Part of the convent has been turned into an ethnography museum, with displays of agricultural tools and t…
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Plaza Mayor
You are likely to start your tour of the town from the Plaza Mayor. Measuring nearly 120m by 120m, this is reputedly the largest main square in the country. The vast expanse is interrupted by only a small Mudejar fountain in its middle, which provided water to the village inhabitants for almost four centuries.
Unlike all other Colombian cities and towns where the main squares have been named after historic heroes, most often Bolívar, the one in Villa de Leyva is traditionally and firmly called Plaza Mayor.
As you stroll about, pop into the Casa de Juan de Castellanos (Carrera 9, No 13-15), Casona La Guaca (Carrera 9, No 13-57) and Casa Quintero (cnr Carrera 9 & Calle 12),…
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Iglesia y Convento de Santa Clara La Real
Founded in 1571, the Iglesia y Convento de Santa Clara La Real is thought to be the first convent in Nueva Granada. In 1863 the nuns were expelled and the convent was used for various purposes, including serving as a hospital. The church, however, continued to provide religious services. The single-naved church interior shelters a wealth of colonial artwork on its walls, most of which comes from the 16th to 18th centuries. Note the golden sun on the ceiling, a Spanish trick to help the indígenas convert to Catholicism (the sun was the principal god of the Muisca people). Next to the choir is the cell where Madre Francisca Josefa, a mystic nun looked upon as Colombia’s St…
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Iglesia de Santo Domingo
The nondescript exterior of the mid-16th-century Iglesia de Santo Domingo hides one of the most richly decorated interiors in Colombia. To the left as you enter is the large Capilla del Rosario, dubbed La Capilla Sixtina del Arte Neogranadino (Sistine Chapel of New Granada’s Art). Decorated by Fray Pedro Bedón from Quito, the chapel is exuberantly rich in wonderful, gilded wood carving – a magnificent example of Hispano-American baroque art. The statue of the Virgen del Rosario in the altar niche is encrusted in mother-of-pearl and clad with mirrors.
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Villa de Leyva
Villa de Leyva is a leisurely place made for wandering around charming stone streets, listening to the sound of church bells and enjoying the lazy rhythm of days gone by. It's still very traditional, and locals greet strangers in the street with 'Buenos días' or 'Buenas tardes'. Be sure to return the greeting. Small as it is, the town has half-a-dozen museums, most of which are in old colonial buildings. For a marvelous bird's-eye view of the town, walk SE of the market and climb the Hill.
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Casa del Fundador Suárez Rendón
One of the finest historic mansions in town is the Casa del Fundador Suárez Rendón, the original home of the founder of Tunja. Built in the mid-16th century on the eastern side of Plaza de Bolívar, it’s a fine example of a magnificent aristocratic residence from the times of the Spanish Conquest. Its most interesting feature is the ceiling, covered with intriguing scenes that were only recently discovered when a ceiling collapsed. There’s also a good bookstore and artisan workshops.
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Casa Cultural Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
This small but lovely colonial home was the birthplace of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, who became president of Colombia in a 1953 military coup with promises of reform. Instead, his tenure was marked by corruption and brutality until he too was overthrown three years later. The ground floor contains an art gallery with regular exhibits by local art students. Upstairs, a small museum explores Pinilla’s life through photographs, documents and personal belongings.
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Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción
The 18th-century sandstone Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción is the most elaborate structure in town, looking somewhat too big for the town’s needs. Its golden stonework (which turns deep orange at sunset) contrasts with the whitewashed houses surrounding it. The building has a clerestory (a second row of windows high up in the nave), which is unusual for a Spanish colonial church.
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Casa Anzoátegui
Now housing a museum with a modest collection of exhibits related to the crucial events of the period, Casa Anzoátegui was the home of General José Antonio Anzoátegui, the Venezuelan hero of the independence campaign who fought under Bolívar. His strategic abilities largely contributed to the victory in the Battle of Boyacá of 1819. He died here, three months after the battle, at 30.
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Casa Museo de Antonio Nariño
Casa Museo de Antonio Nariño is the house where Antonio Nariño, the forefather of Colombia’s independence lived until his death in 1823. Nariño was a fierce defender of human rights and is also revered for translating Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man into Spanish. The house has been converted into a museum containing colonial objects and memorabilia related to this great man.
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Casa de Aquileo Parra
The Casa de Aquileo Parra is a small, humble home of Alquileo Parrera, who served as Colombia’s 11th president (1876–78). There’s a small museum but most of the building is now a cooperative for elderly weavers where you can watch them at work. The woman who runs the co-op can give you a tour, though there is little to see.
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Casa Colonial
One of the oldest buildings in town, Casa Colonial dates from the early Spanish days. The collection includes some pre-Columbian pottery, colonial sacred art, artifacts of several indigenous communities including the Motilones and Tunebos (the two indigenous groups living in Norte de Santander department), plus antiques.
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Museo de Arte Moderno Ramírez Villamizar
In a 450-year-old mansion, this museum has about 40 works by Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, one of Colombia’s most outstanding artists, born in Pamplona in 1923. The collection gives an insight into his artistic development from expressionist painting of the 1940s to geometric abstract sculpture in recent decades.
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Casa del Primer Congreso
On October 4, 1812, legislators met here to install the First Congress of the short-lived United Provinces of New Granada and elect its first president, Camilo Torres Tenorio. The 2nd floor of the Casa del Primer Congreso houses a small museum that contains the congressional desk, documents and other artifacts.
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Museo Casa de Bolívar
The Museo Casa de Bolívar is housed in a colonial mansion where Bolívar stayed for two months in 1828. The museum displays various historic and archeological exhibits, including weapons, documents, paintings, and mummies and artifacts of the Guane people who inhabited the region before the Spaniards arrived.
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Catedral de la Sagrada Familia
Of the city churches, the Catedral de la Sagrada Familia, facing Parque Santander, is the most substantial piece of religious architecture. Constructed over nearly a century (1770–1865), it’s a massive, eclectic edifice with fine stained-glass windows and a ceramic cupola brought from Mexico.
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Casa Museo de Antonio Ricaurte
Casa Museo de Antonio Ricaurte is the house where Antonio Ricaurte was born in 1786. He is remembered for his act of self-sacrifice in the battle of San Mateo (near Caracas in Venezuela) in 1814. It’s now a museum, which displays period furniture and weapons as well as some related documents.
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Jardín Botánico Eloy Valenzuela
The verdant Jardín Botánico Eloy Valenzuela has 7.5 hectares of gardens, a small pond and a Japanese tea garden. The gardens are on the banks of the Río Frío on the old road to Floridablanca, in the suburb of Bucarica. To get there, take the Bucarica bus from Carrera 15 in the city center.
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El Fósil
This impressive 120-million-year-old baby kronosaurus fossil is the world’s most complete specimen of this prehistoric marine reptile. The fossil is 7m long; the creature was about 12m in size but the tail did not survive. The fossil remains in place exactly where it was found in 1977.
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Museo del Carmen
One of the best museums of religious art in the country, Museo del Carmen is housed in the convent of the same name. It contains valuable paintings, carvings, altarpieces and other religious objects dating from the 16th century onward. It's largely repetitive if you've already been to El Fósil
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Casa de Don Juan de Vargas
Once home to scribe Juan de Vargas, Casa de Don Juan de Vargas is a splendid 16th-century residence. It also has been converted into a museum and has a collection of colonial artworks on display. The most captivating features here are the ceilings, covered with eclectic paintings.
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Casa Museo de Luis Alberto Acuña
Featuring works by the painter, sculptor, writer and historian who was inspired by influences ranging from Muisca mythology to contemporary art, Casa Museo de Luis Alberto Acuña has been set up in the mansion where Acuña (1904–93) lived for the last 15 years of his life.
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Iglesia de San Francisco
Iglesia de San Francisco, built from 1550 to 1572, boasts a splendid main retable framed into an elaborate gilded arch at the entrance to the presbytery. Note the impressively realistic sculpture of Christ (carved in 1816), Cristo de los Mártires.
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