Other sights in Colombia
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A
Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe
Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe, adjacent to the Berrío metro station in an ornate black-and-white building, hosts concerts and events, art expositions, conferences and workshops. Check its website for what’s on.
reviewed
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Old Town
Without doubt, Cartagena's old city is its principal attraction, particularly the inner walled town, consisting of the historical districts of El Centro and San Diego. It is a real gem of colonial architecture, packed with churches, monasteries, plazas, palaces and mansions with their overhanging balconies and shady patios.
The old town is surrounded by Las Murallas, the thick walls built to protect it against enemies. Construction began towards the end of the 16th century, after the attack by Francis Drake; until that time Cartagena was almost completely unprotected. The project took two centuries to complete due to repeated damage from both storms and pirate attacks. On…
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Jardín Botánico
Newly refurbished and fabulous, the Jardín Botánico boasts 600 species of trees and plants, a lake, herbarium, auditorium and the Orquideorama, where an orchid display is held in March and April. The gardens are easily accessed from the nearby metro stop Universidad.
reviewed
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B
Catedral
Work on the Cathedral began in 1575, but in 1586, while still under construction, it was partially destroyed by the cannons of Francis Drake, and not completed until 1612. Alterations were made between 1912 and 1923 by the first archbishop of Cartagena, who covered the church with stucco and painted it to look like marble. He commissioned the dome on the tower. Restoration work has uncovered the lovely limestone on the building’s exterior. Apart from the tower’s top, the church has basically preserved its original form. It has a fortlike appearance and a simply decorated interior with three naves and massive semicircular archways supported on high, stone columns. The main…
reviewed
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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…
reviewed
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Hacienda Nápoles
Once the site of Pablo Escobar’s country retreat and private zoo, this new theme park is refurbishing the ruins. There’s a large mariposario (butterfly enclosure) – the stereo plays Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ on continuous loop. Escobar’s 18 pet hippopotamuses somehow survived decades of neglect; there are zebras, dantas (tapirs) and ostriches too. Loudspeakers blast ‘dinosaur noises’ as you rock up at the main gate – there are numerous life-sized replicas of dinosaurs, constructed by the artist Escobar employed. The main house has been left in ruins as a reminder of the mayhem Escobar once caused the country; his collection of burned 1920s automobiles is stil…
reviewed
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Gaviotas
Off the beaten path, Gaviotas, about 100km southeast of Villavicencio, is a ‘green’ success story. The United Nations called the village a model of sustainable development, and Gabriel García Márquez called founder Paolo Lugari the ‘inventor of the world.’ The village of 200 people is operated on wind and solar power. Residents farm organically and have planted millions of trees. The town has become a world-class research and development center for green technologies and the commune-like society has no police, no mayor and no weapons. The village was profiled in journalist Alan Weisman’s book, Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World.
reviewed
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C
Museo del Siglo XIX
Nearby the observatory, the fun Museo del Siglo XIX offers a look inside something other than Spanish colonial Bogotá. The museum fills a former Repúblicano-style home built intentionally in English and French styles in two swoops (in 1850 and 1880). A visit takes in a sample of 19th-century capital life, with a refashioned pharmacy, corsets galore, and an alldecked-out parlor with a secret chamber and porcelain spit jars. Don’t miss the 3000-piece toy doll collection, the culmination of six decades of collection by a couple of local señoras.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara
Facing the palace from the west (on Carrera 8) is one of Bogotá’s most richly decorated churches, the Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara, now run by the government as a museum. Considering all the other same-era churches that can be seen for free, many visitors pass on this one, but it is a stunner. Built between 1629 and 1674, the single-nave construction features a barrel vault coated in golden floral motifs looking down over walls entirely covered in paintings (98 not including the closed-off loft, by our count) and statues of saints.
reviewed
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Iglesia de San Francisco
The Iglesia de San Francisco is the city’s largest colonial church and arguably the most beautiful. Inside are a fine high altar and a collection of seven unique side altars. The 1983 earthquake cracked open the ossary, revealing six unidentified mummies. Two are left, and you can visit them on a one-hour guided tour of the church that includes the five-story bell tower and the outdoor cupolas. Look for the tourist policeman outside the church doors who conducts the tours.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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E
Museo del Oro y Arqueología
The Cartagena Gold Museum is like a miniature version of Bogotá’s world-class gold museum. Though small, it offers a fascinating collection of gold and pottery of the Sinú (also known as Zenú) people, who inhabited the region of the present-day departments of Bolívar, Córdoba, Sucre and northern Antioquia before the Spanish Conquest. The detail of some pieces are exquisite and should you be heading towards Bogotá, offers just a taste of the bigger and grander museum there.
reviewed
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Catedral
The Catedral is sometimes referred to as the Catedral Madre, as it was the first church built in the region. However, the original church was destroyed by fire, and the large building you see today was not completed until 1837. Until that year, Iglesia de Santa Bárbara did the honors as the cathedral. Once inside, have a look at the Last Supper in the right transept, and at an image of San Francisco de Borja with a skull in the transept opposite.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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F
Manga Island
While Cartagena is principally noted for its Spanish colonial architecture, other styles have also left their mark. Walk around the residential sector on Manga Island to see some interesting houses dating mainly from the late-19th to early-20th centuries - a real hotchpotch of styles. The most noticeable feature is the Islamic influence brought by immigrants from the Middle East. You can also visit Manga's Cementerio de la Cruz, noted for many ornate old graves.
reviewed
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Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Old Providence McBean Lagoon
To protect the habitat, a 10-sq-km area in the island’s northeast was declared Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Old Providence McBean Lagoon in 1995. About 10% of the park’s area covers a coastal mangrove system east of the airport; the remaining 905 hectares cover an offshore belt including the islets of Cayo Cangrejo and Cayo Tres Hermanos. An 800m-long ecopath helps you identify different species of mangroves and the fauna that inhabit them.
reviewed
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Cueva de Morgan
This is the cave where Welsh pirate Henry Morgan is said to have buried some of his treasure. The cave is 120m long, but it’s filled with water, so you see only its mouth. You can’t enter the cave and there’s not much to see here anyway, yet the magic of alleged riches draws in plenty of tourists. Additional distractions here include traditional mento dancers shaking it to calypso and Schottische, a sort of island polka.
reviewed
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Plazoleta del Chorro Quevedo
No one agrees exactly where Bogotá was originally founded – some say by the Catedral Primada on the Plaza de Bolívar, others say here, in this wee plaza lined with cafes, a small white church and many boho street vendors (or hacky-sack players). It’s a cute spot any time of day, but particularly as dark comes – and students pour onto the scene – in the narrow funnel-like alley leading past pocket-sized bars just north.
reviewed
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Catedral
This massive whitewashed cathedral claims to be Colombia’s oldest church, but work wasn’t actually completed until the end of the 18th century, and thus reflects the influences of various architectural styles. It holds the ashes of the town’s founder, Rodrigo de Bastidas (just to the left as you enter the church). Simón Bolívar was buried here in 1830, but in 1842 his remains were taken to Caracas, his birthplace.
reviewed
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Maloka
A kilometer south of the gardens, and a short walk from the bus station in the planned neighborhood of La Salistre, Maloka is a kid-oriented interactive center of science and technology. Lots of kids in uniform amble about the eight rooms – using physics to lift a car, or playing in the life-sized toy-block park. There’s also a high-tech Cine Domo cinema, which plays 40-minute films on a huge dome-ceiling.
reviewed
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G
Museo Militar
The two-floor Museo Militar is run by military guys in fatigues, and may be interesting to some for its playful models sporting the history of military uniforms (note the ‘anti-terrorist’ outfit), a delirious ‘Conquest of Space’ exhibit of floating gods and Wright Brothers’-type contraptions in a sea of stars, and a courtyard of artillery and aircraft, including a presidential helicopter.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Parque Nacional del Chicamocha
Future parks might look a lot more like the new Parque Nacional del Chicamocha, near Bucaramanga. This for-profit, corporate-run resort opened in December 2006, at a reported cost of US$20 million. In addition to hiking and trekking opportunities, this commercial theme park features dozens of restaurants, cafes, thrill rides, a zoo, cable cars and, coming soon, a luxury hotel complex.
reviewed
