Sights in Colombia
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Jardín Botánico Joaquín Antonio Uribe
Across from the Universidad de Antioquia is the city's Jardín Botánico. Opened in 1978, the garden has 600 species of trees and plants, a lake, herbarium, auditorium and the Orquideorama where an orchid display is held in March and April. Just across the street is the sleek, all-concrete Parque de los Deseos, a favorite hangout of the area's college students.
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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.
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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…
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Mompós
Minding its own business in the northern Colombian interior, Mompós is another colonial time warp. The atmosphere around here is certainly unique in Colombia - it feels more like the bayous of Mississippi - and is well worth experiencing. Mompós also has a tradition in literature and was the setting for Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez.
Founded in 1537 on the eastern branch of the Río Magdalena, Mompós became an important port through which all merchandise from Cartagena passed to the interior of the colony. Toward the end of the 19th century, shipping was diverted to the other branch of the Magdalena, ending the town's prosperity and leaving Mo…
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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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Museo Histórico Policia
The surprisingly worthwhile Museo Histórico Policia not only gets you inside the lovely ex-HQ (built in 1923) of Bogotá’s police force, but gives you 45 minutes or so of contact time with 18-year-old, English-speaking local guides who are serving a one-year compulsory service with the police (interesting tales to be heard). The best parts otherwise follow cocaine-kingpin Pablo Escobar’s demise in 1993 – with a model dummy of his bullet-ridden corpse – or the surreal juxtaposition of a Neanderthal-fight mural before cases and cases of more modern means of killing each other (pistols and rifles).
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Plaza de Bolívar
The usual place to start discovering Bogotá is Plaza de Bolívar, the heart of the original town. In the middle of the square is a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar (cast in 1846), the work of an Italian artist, Pietro Tenerani. This was the first public monument erected in the city.
In the center, beside the 1846 bronze statue of Bolívar (of course), are flocks of pigeons that dive-bomb anyone within 50m of the square - a hat is a good idea.
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La Gorda
Thanks to a local law that requires major new buildings to include public art, central Medellín can seem like a vast, outdoor art gallery. Besides the Plazoleta de las Escultras, you can see Botero's massive bronze woman's torso known as La Gorda, in front of the Banco de la República in Parque Berrío. There are also three more Botero sculptures in the Parque San Antonio.
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Museo Nacional
Museo Nacional, Centro Internacional's principal attraction, is housed in the expansive, Greek cross–shaped building called El Panóptico, designed as a prison by English architect Thomas Reed in 1874. Walking through the (more or less) chronological display of Colombia’s past, you pass iron-bar doors into white-walled halls.
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Zoológico de Cali
The Zoológico de Cali has a good collection of species indigenous to Colombia, including chiguiros (capybaras), oso hormigueros (anteaters), condors, monkeys and a mariposario (butterfly enclosure). It’s 2km southwest of the center in Barrio Santa Teresita and is most easily accessed by taxi.
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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.
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Museo de Antioquia
In the grand art-deco Palacio Municipal, the Museo de Antioquia is Colombia’s second-oldest museum and one of its finest. The collection includes pre-Columbian, colonial and modern art collections, as well as many works donated by native son Fernando Botero.
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Catedral Metropolitana
Overlooking Parque de Bolívar, the vast Catedral Metropolitana boasts a neo-Romanesque design. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1931. Its spacious but dim interior has Spanish stained-glass windows and a German-made pipe organ.
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Museo Arqueológico la Merced
The Museo Arqueológico la Merced is housed in the former La Merced convent, Cali’s oldest building. Its five rooms contain a small collection of pre-Columbian pottery left behind by the major cultures from central and southern Colombia.
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Pueblito Paisa
On top of the 80m-tall hill known as Cerro Nutibara, 2km southwest of the city center, sits the kitschy Pueblito Paisa, a miniature version of typical Antioquian township. Views from an adjacent platform across the city are stunning.
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Ermita de la Veracruz
Ermita de la Veracruz is the city’s oldest church. Its construction was reputedly begun in 1682, but it wasn’t inaugurated until 1803. It has a stone facade and a white-and-gold interior.
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Museo del Oro
The Museo del Oro, one block away from La Merced, has a small but fine collection of gold and pottery of the Calima culture.
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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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Palacio de la Inquisición
The Palacio de la Inquisición is one of the finest buildings in the town. Although the site was the seat of the Punishment Tribunal of the Holy Office from 1610, the palace wasn't completed until 1776. It is a good example of late colonial architecture, noted particularly for its magnificent baroque stone gateway topped by the Spanish coat of arms, and the long balconies on the facade.
On the side wall, just around the corner from the entrance, you'll find a small window with a cross on top. Heretics were denounced here, and the Holy Office would then instigate proceedings. The principal 'crimes' were magic, witchcraft and blasphemy. When culprits were found guilty they …
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Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
This is the hacienda where Simón Bolívar spent his last days and died. The hacienda was established at the beginning of the 17th century and was engaged in cultivating and processing sugarcane. It had its own trapiche (sugarcane mill) and a destilería (distillery).
During the Bolívar era, the hacienda was owned by a Spaniard, Joaquín de Mier, a devoted supporter of Colombia's independence cause. He invited Bolívar to stay and take a rest at his home before his intended journey to Europe.
Several monuments have been built on the grounds in remembrance of Bolívar, the most imposing of which is a massive central structure called the Altar de la Patria. Just to the right…
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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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Catedral Primada
The Plaza de Bolívar's dominating building, facing from the northeast corner, is the neoclassical Catedral Primada, which stands on the site where the first mass may have been celebrated after Bogotá had been founded in 1538 (some historians argue it happened at Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo, just east). Either way, it’s Bogotá’s largest. The original simple thatched chapel was replaced by a more substantial building in 1556–65, which later collapsed due to poor foundations. In 1572 the third church went up, but the earthquake of 1785 reduced it to ruins. Only in 1807 was the massive building – that stands to this day – initiated and it was successfully completed by 18…
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Convento de San Pedro Claver
This convent was founded by Jesuits in the first half of the 17th century, originally as San Ignacio de Loyola. The name was later changed in honor of Spanish-born monk Pedro Claver (1580-1654), who lived and died in the convent. Called the 'Apostle of the Blacks' or the 'Slave of the Slaves,' he spent all his life ministering to the slaves brought from Africa. He was the first person to be canonized in the New World (in 1888).
The convent is a monumental three-story building surrounding a tree-filled courtyard, and part of it is open as a museum. Exhibits include religious art and pre-Columbian ceramics. You can visit the cell where San Pedro Claver lived and died, and a…
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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 de Santo Domingo
The Iglesia de Santo Domingo, built towards the end of the 16th century, is reputedly the oldest in the city. Its builders gave it a particularly wide central nave and covered it with a heavy roof, but it seems they were not too good at their calculations and the vault began to crack. Massive buttresses had to be added to the walls to support the structure and prevent it from collapsing.
The builders also had problems with the bell tower, which is distinctly crooked. However, legend has it that it was the work of a devil who knocked the tower. The interior is spacious and lofty. The legendary figure of Christ carved in wood is set in the baroque altar at the head of the r…
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