Bogota, Colombia -- La Candelaria & Monserrate

Where We Be

Bolivar Plaza is a grand open square with government buildings, Colombia's biggest
cathedral, and distant views of Monserrate shrine. Also pigeons, lots of pigeons!

Historic District -- Bogota, Colombia

Bogota sits at 8,612 feet (2,625 m), making it the
third highest capital city in the world after Quito
Ecuador and Sucre Bolivia. Even simple
activities may have you catching your breath!

We found 3 days in Bogota just enough to see
the key sights of the city -- including a day trip
to nearby Zipaquira with its salt cathedral. Add
a fourth day for a more relaxed pace. We based
ourselves right in the historic district, known
as La Candelaria, and would recommend this as
it lets you walk to all the main historic sights.

And what are those sights? We would include
1) two excellent museums -- the Gold Museum
and the Botero Museum, 2) three churches,
3) Bolivar Plaza (shown left), 4) the funicular to
the top of Monserrate (10,341 ft or 3,152 m),
and 5) the trip to Zipaquira about an hour away.

Many of the streets in the historic district are a
pleasure to stroll along, and we always felt safe
exploring in the day and evening. As a general
note, we found all the places we visited in
Colombia safe and super-friendly. We arrived a
little nervous based on old fears of Colombia
from a different time, but once we were here
we realized those old fears were unfounded.

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So this is the shrine atop Monserrate as zoomed into all the way from Bolivar Plaza

Want to keep your Monserrate visit simple and easy? Then take the funicular up and down (~$6 RT). Otherwise
it's a hard climb uphill to 10,341 feet (3,152 m). We considered walking down but the trail is closed after 4 pm.

At the top you'll see statues and stone towers and stops for stations of the cross

The shrine at the top of the hill is your main goal

Here we are at the top, where there's a simple shrine devoted to El Señor Caído ("The Fallen Lord")

It's an easy five- to ten-minute walk from the top of the
funicular to the shrine amidst pleasant surroundings

The city views in the late afternoon can be pretty bad frankly. Too much
smog and western sunshine. Morning might be better for city views.

On the other hand, the late afternoon sunlight on
the surrounding hillsides and buildings is quite lovely

We recommend a stop at the café up top to soak up the ambience of Monserrate

We enjoyed an artisanal beer and a cappuccino
with Baileys for around 20,000 pesos (~$6) total

We headed down around 6 pm just as the sun was setting and got home before full dark

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Santuario Nuestra Señora del Carmen -- the second church we recommend -- is located just a few blocks
south of the Botero Museum. It’s a beautiful church with red and white horizontal stripes inside and out.
We liked the stained glass windows with floral patterns instead of the more traditional religious depictions.

Santa Clara -- the third church we recommend -- is one of Bogota’s most richly decorated churches and
also one of its oldest (along with Iglesia de San Francisco). Built between 1629 and 1674, it features a single
barrel vault covered with golden floral motifs. The small fee of 4,000 pesos (~$1) is worth it for a look around.

Carrera 7 is a handy pedestrian avenue that makes for easy city walking. It's also the location of Iglesia de
San Francisco (above) -- one of the three churches we recommend seeing. Built between 1557 and 1621,
it’s Bogota’s oldest surviving church. The interior altar is ornate gold – but no photos are allowed inside.

You can see the white Monserrate shrine atop the hill to the left of Metropolitan Cathedral.
The cathedral is not only the biggest in Colombia but one of the biggest in South America.

The imposing National Capitol occupies another side
of Bolivar Square and houses Colombia's Congress

As you walk from place to place you'll get to enjoy all the
colonial architecture lining the streets of La Candelaria

La Candelaria is highly walkable -- you can easily see
all the key sights (from the outside at least) in a day

Teatro Colon -- Colombia's National Theater -- is another Neoclassical building of note

We stayed at Hotel Dann (above with the colorful mural) for $39 per night and loved
its central location. Avenida 19 just outside is busy enough to feel safe day and night.

The view from our room on the 13th floor was pretty terrific.
Our stay included a hot breakfast buffet each morning.

Nearby Bolivar Square is the Presidential Palace, known as Casa de Nariño

La Candelaria (Historic District)