Bogotá (Santa Fe de Bogotá — the capital and largest city of Colombia, population 8.2 million in the city, 10.7 million in the metropolitan area, altitude 2,600m (8,530 ft) above sea level — the third highest capital city in the world after Quito (2,850m) and La Paz/Sucre) is the political, economic and cultural center of Colombia. At 2,600m altitude, Bogotá has a permanent spring climate (average temperature 14°C year-round — Bogotá residents call it "verano e invierno todos los dias" (summer and winter every day) because the temperature varies between 7°C at night and 19°C at midday, year-round, with no seasonal variation of note — the only variation is rain, which can fall in any month). Bogotá underwent a dramatic transformation in the 2000s under Mayor Antanas Mockus (the eccentric academic philosopher who became one of the most innovative urban administrators in the world, reducing traffic deaths by having mimes replace traffic police, replacing firearms with water pistols for New Year's celebrations, and creating the Ciclovía (the weekly car-free cycling program on 120km of Bogotá streets every Sunday, the largest such program in the world)). Today Bogotá is known for the Museo del Oro (the Gold Museum — the finest collection of pre-Columbian gold in the world), the Barrio La Candelaria (the colonial center, with the Cerro de Monserrate behind), Fernando Botero's paintings and sculptures (the Bogotá-born artist whose distinctive "Boterismo" style (the deliberate distortion of figures into voluminous rounded forms) is recognizable worldwide), and the best food scene in Colombia.
La Candelaria (the historic center of Bogotá, the original colonial city founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1538: the Plaza de Bolívar (the main square of Bogotá, named for Simón Bolívar (the "Liberator" who freed Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from Spanish rule): the neoclassical Capitol Building (Capitolio Nacional, 1847–1926), the Cathedral Primada (the largest cathedral in Colombia, begun 1807), the Palace of Justice (rebuilt after the 1985 M-19 guerrilla siege that resulted in the army storming the building and 98 deaths — the building burned and with it 6,000 criminal records) and the Mayor's Palace. The narrow cobblestone streets and the 16th-century painted houses of the colonial neighborhood behind the square.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMuseo del Oro (the Gold Museum — the most visited museum in Colombia and one of the most visited in South America: the collection of 55,000 gold, tumbaga (gold-copper alloy) and other metal objects from the pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia (the Muisca, the Quimbaya, the Zenú, the Tairona — the gold-working cultures of Colombia were among the most sophisticated in the Americas): the Muisca Raft (the most famous single object — the 20cm gold raft with figures representing the El Dorado ceremony (the ceremony where the new Muisca leader (zipa) was covered in gold dust and plunged into Lake Guatavita — the origin of the El Dorado legend)), and the gold room (the final room of the museum where 8,000 gold objects are displayed in a circular room that slowly illuminates and rotates — the most impressive display of pre-Columbian metal in the world).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCerro de Monserrate (the steep 3,152m mountain directly east of La Candelaria, 600m above the city center: the pilgrimage church of El Señor Caído (the Lord Fallen — the 17th-century image of a fallen Christ that is the most visited pilgrimage site in Colombia) at the summit, reached by cable car (teleférico) or funicular (funicular — the steepest funicular in South America). The panoramic view from the summit: the 2,600m city of Bogotá spread across the Sabana de Bogotá (the high-altitude savanna of the Eastern Cordillera), the Andes mountains to the east and the smoggy-but-spectacular view of 8 million people at altitude. At sunset, the city lights begin below before dark.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideAjiaco santafereño (the Bogotá soup — the most characteristic dish of the Bogotá highlands: a thick, hearty soup of three types of potato (the papa criolla (the small yellow potato native to the Colombian highlands, with a waxy, slightly nutty flavor), the papa pastusa and the papa sabanera), chicken, guasca (a dried herb endemic to the Colombian highlands that gives ajiaco its distinctive herbal flavor — without guasca, it is a different dish), corn on the cob (the choclo), cream and capers served on the side. The ajiaco is the emblematic soup of the cold Bogotá plateau — the combination of three potato varieties gives the soup both body (the floury varieties dissolve into the broth) and texture (the firmer varieties remain whole).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMuseo Botero (Calle 11 No. 4-41, La Candelaria — the free museum housing the personal collection donated by Fernando Botero (born Medellín, 1932 — the Colombian painter and sculptor whose "Boterismo" style of deliberately swollen, rounded, voluminous figures is the most recognizable individual style in 20th-century Latin American art): 123 works by Botero (the largest collection of his work in Colombia) alongside the European art collection Botero assembled and donated — Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Dalí, Miró and Chagall in the same free museum in La Candelaria). The adjacent Casa de Moneda (the former colonial mint, now a fine arts museum with Colombian currency history).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Bogotá Ciclovía (every Sunday 7am–2pm: the program started by Antanas Mockus in which 120km of Bogotá's major streets are closed to cars and opened exclusively to cyclists, joggers, rollerbladers and pedestrians: 1.5 million people participate every Sunday — the largest weekly cycling event in the world. The main route: Carrera Septima (the "7th Street" — the main north-south boulevard through the center) and the Carrera 13 (through Chapinero, the LGBT-friendly design district). Bike rental: available at numerous points along the route (COP 10,000–20,000/hr for a shared bike). The Ciclovía is free, democratic, and the best introduction to Bogotá's city energy.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideUsaquén (the former colonial village incorporated into northern Bogotá, now an upscale neighborhood with the feel of a separate town: the Plaza de Usaquén (the colonial church and the shaded square with the Sunday artisan market (Thursday–Sunday) selling Colombian crafts, emeralds (Colombia produces 70–90% of the world's emeralds), hand-woven mochila bags (the traditional woven bags of the Arhuaco and Wayuu indigenous communities of Colombia — the most recognized Colombian textile tradition) and street food. The Usaquén restaurant row (Calle 119) has the best upscale dining in northern Bogotá.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideChapinero (the creative and LGBT-friendly neighborhood 5km north of La Candelaria: the bar and restaurant district of young Bogotá, with the craft beer scene (Bogotá Beer Company, Candelaria, 3 Cordilleras — the Colombian craft beer revolution that began in Bogotá in the 2010s) and the chicharrón (the crispy deep-fried pork belly or rind, served as bar food with ají (the Colombian fresh green or red chilli salsa) and the warm morcilla (the Colombian blood sausage with rice, chickpeas and herbs — distinctly different from the Spanish morcilla) — the essential Colombian bar snacks. La Pinta (the most respected craft beer bar in Chapinero).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCatedral de Sal (Zipaquirá — 50km north of Bogotá, 1 hr by commuter train (Tren de la Sabana, a historic steam train that runs on Sundays) or bus: the underground Roman Catholic cathedral carved inside an active salt mine at 200m depth. The mine (in use since pre-Columbian times when the Muisca people mined the salt here) was converted to a cathedral by miners in the 1930s (the first version, built 1953, was too geologically unstable and a new cathedral was excavated 1991–1995). The main nave (the largest underground cathedral in the world: 75m wide × 70m long, the 23-tonne solid salt cross at the altar, the Stations of the Cross carved in 14 alcoves along the approach tunnel) is one of the most extraordinary religious interiors in Latin America.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Colombian emerald market (Colombia produces 70–90% of the world's emeralds — the emeralds of Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor (the three mining areas in the Boyacá department): the emerald traders (esmeralderos) of the Centro Internacional (the area around Calle 17 and the Banco de la República, where the emerald dealers have traded since the 16th century) offer the finest selection of Colombian emeralds in the world. The Colombian emerald is distinguished by its distinctive "garden" (jardin — the natural inclusions within the stone that differentiate it from Brazilian or Zambian emeralds) and the vivid "muzo green" (the most prized emerald color, named for the Muzo mine). Prices range from $50 (small, included stones) to $10,000+ (fine quality).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBandeja Paisa (the most famous regional plate of Colombia, from the Antioquia/Paisa region (Medellín): the "paisa tray" — a single plate containing: red beans (frijoles rojos), white rice, minced ground meat (carne molida), chicharrón (crispy pork belly), black pudding morcilla, fried egg, avocado, sweet plantain (plátano maduro) and arepa (the Colombian corn flatbread). The bandeja paisa is the most caloric plate in Colombian cuisine — originally designed to fuel the Antioqueño miners, coffee pickers and farmers for a full day of physical labor. It is served in Antioqueño restaurants across Bogotá as a national pride dish.
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