Sights in Popayán
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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.
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Museo Guillermo Valencia
Museo Guillermo Valencia is dedicated to the Popayán-born poet who once lived here. The late-18th-century building is full of period furniture, paintings, old photos and documents related to the poet and his son, Guillermo León Valencia, who was Colombia’s president from 1962 to 1966.
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Casa Museo Mosquera
Casa Museo Mosquera is housed in an 18th-century mansion that was once home to General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, a politician and historian who was Colombia’s president on four occasions between 1845 and 1867. Note the urn in the wall; it contains Mosquera’s heart.
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Panteón de los Próceres
Located just next door to the theater is the neoclassical Panteón de los Próceres, which shelters the remains of Popayán’s most illustrious sons, including General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera and botanist Francisco José de Caldas (1770–1816).
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Museo de Historia Natural
Just east of the historic center you’ll find the Museo de Historia Natural. One of the best of its kind in the country, it’s noted for its extensive collection of insects, butterflies and, in particular, stuffed birds.
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Museo Arquidiocesano de Arte Religioso
Museo Arquidiocesano de Arte Religioso has a good collection of religious art, including paintings, statues, altar pieces, silverware and liturgical vessels, most of which date from the 17th to 19th centuries.
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Cathedral
The neoclassical cathedral is the youngest church in the center, built between 1859 and 1906 on the site of a previous cathedral, which had been completely destroyed by an earthquake.
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Iglesia La Ermita
Built in 1546, Iglesia La Ermita is Popayán’s oldest church and worth seeing for its fine main retable and the fragments of old frescoes, which were only discovered after the earthquake of 1983.
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Teatro Guillermo Valencia
It is worth strolling past the early 20th-century Teatro Guillermo Valencia. Ask nicely at the box office and they may give you an ad-hoc tour.
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