| La Candelaria and Downtown tips and photos posted by real travelers and Bogotá locals.
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Once home to Colombia's best-loved poets and politicians, La Candelaria is Bogota's oldest neighbourhood, a sort of living historical monument. It has something magical with blue, orange, turquoise, green, magenta, ochre and yellow colonial buildings adorned with balconies painted crimson, dark green and deep blue.
Pretty cobbled streets cluttered with bohemian shops, craft stalls, galleries and cafés climb up towards a hazy mountain. Here you find museums, restaurants and eclectic bookshops. Enchanting La Candelaria is a cultural and artistic heart of the city.
Eccentric rooftop sculptures draw the look towards the sky while a mixture of sounds of street musicians, chattering students and food vendors rises from parks and plazas. Handsome boulevards open up on the Plaza de Bolívar, the city's main square and crowded meeting point.
Oh, I could spent days just wandering the streets of this delightful area :) Directions: downtown
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Set in one of the most peaceful areas of La Candelaria, Iglesia del Carmen was inaugurated in 1938. Inspired by the Sienese Gothich style, it is an impressive piece of architecture, unlike any other church in Bogotá. This is marked on the facade by a combination of red and white stripes. Its shape is a Latin cross with proportionate dimensions that give the feeling of grandeur.
The interior is very beautiful as well, with same red and white stripes from the outside. It has a decoration with Venetian mosaics (with noted image of Virgen del Carmen over the high altar) and fine stained-glass windows depicting fruit and flowers. The church houses pictures from the colonial era.
Each year on the 6th of January it traditionally becomes the place for the worship of the 'Three Wise Men'. Directions: la Candelaria
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A few steps from the fountain in Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo is a fairly narrow and short stone street, Callejon del Embudo (Funnel Alley), where bars, cafés, bakeries and quirky shops give life to this enchanting part of La Candelaria. Its shape resemble the shape of a funnel: it's very narrow at one side and then it slowly widen on the other.
There are a few places that sell delicious home made pies and cakes. And there are many bars offering chica, a traditional indigenous fermented drink derived from maize (though nowadays many different grains or fruits are used to make chicha, even coca leafs).
Beginning in the afternoon and intensifying toward the night, Callejon del Embudo is getting more and more crowded. All kinds of people come along. Music is coming from every corner and the street becomes one big party. Directions: la Candelaria; between Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo and Calle 14
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In the heart of La Candelaria you find a small plaza, a mystical Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo. Surrounded by cafés and bars, it has a fountain in the middle and a small church on one side. It is assumed that the city of Bogotá was actually founded here and not around Plaza de Bolívar. But opinions differ.
Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo is a space that receive students, academics and musicians. They come to have coffee, beer, canelazo, or admire the creations of some of the Bogotá artisans. Among the most traditional places are: Café color Café, La Pequeña Santa Fe cafe and El gato gris' restaurant.
On week nights the plaza buzzes with music; locals and tourists can enjoy the high vibe atmosphere surrounded by all types of rhythms. During the weekends it is also the meeting place for hippies who sell their hand made jewelry. Directions: la Candelaria
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Centro Cultural Gabriel García Márquez was created in the middle of La Candelaria by the Fondo de Cultura Economica in Mexico to highlight the brilliance of the Colombian Nobel Prize winner and inaugurated in January 2008. It was designed by Rogelio Salmona, one of the most respected Colombian and American architects and a close friend of Gabo. He also created several other noted buildings in Bogotá and other Colombian cities (MAMBO - Bogotá Modern Art Museum, among others), and worked as an assistant to the French architect Le Corbusier for about a decade.
The circular complex houses a large bookshop (including a music shop), a gallery and performance halls, where literary and other cultural events are held. There is also a room where children's arts workshops are held. The ground level displays García Márquez' life in large panels. Juan Valdez Café occupies a space with a patio on the centre's lower level, and it's a perfect place to people-watch while enjoying a cup of Colombian best coffee :)
video Phone: 1 283 2200Directions: la CandelariaWebsite: %s4%cbwww.fce.com.co%s*%c*
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For anyone interested in art, Museo Botero has to be very top of the list of things to do in Bogotá. The magnificent 208-piece collection was donated by the famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero whose series of 'fat people' shows skill, humour, kindness, cruelty and critical satire. The collection contains 123 of his own works along with 85 by an impressive range of European masters such as Picasso, Chagall, Dalí, Renoir, Matisse, Monet and others.
Housed in a beautifully restored colonial mansion (Casa Luis López the Mesa), the Botero collection is catalogued as the most important art exhibition in the country and comprises sculptures, drawings and paintings.
The museum is open Mon-Sat 09:00am-07:00pm (closed Tues), Sun 10:00am-05:00pm; free admission.
more pics in the Travelogue
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La Candelaria is the historic core of Bogota and while it does have its share of romantic streets and grand architecture, it is also a bit of a dangerous area, mainly at night. A lot of the danger is overblown, but it is important to be aware of the greater potential for problems here than in the northern neighborhoods of Zona Rosa or Parque 93. That being said, there are some great attractions in La Candelaria. During the day, it is well worth strolling down its sometimes cobbled lanes and to visit some of its small shops and restaurants.
You'll also find the main cathedral in the grand Plaza de Bolivar and the famous Gold Museum as well as the Botero Foundation (Colombia's most famous painter). Leave a Comment Directions: TransMilenio Autonorte southbound, switch at TM Av. Jiménez Eastbound.
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Iglesia de la Candelaria is located in the heart of La Candelaria, next to the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango. It's part of an Augustinian friary originally established in 1560. This is three-nave colonial church built in Baroque style between 1686 and 1703. It has some fine wood carvings gilded by gold and above the tabernacle is the image of Our Lady of Candelaria. The beautiful altar and the ceilings were made by Pedro Alcántara Quijano.
The church was in 1975 declared a national monument. During the centuries it had major changes to its original design. The last restoration work was completed in 2005. Directions: la Candelaria
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Completed in 1567, Iglesia de San Francisco is the oldest church in Bogotá. It looks quite simple from the outside but the interior is elaborately decorated. The church is built in Mudéjar (Spanish-Moorish) architectural style. Some parts are plated with wood and columns are lined with gold following the Flemish style of the 17th century. Especially interesting is the gilded main altar which is Bogotá's biggest and most magnificent piece of art of its kind.
The ceiling is beautifully decorated and a collection of side altars is noted as well. Fine colonial works by artists Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos and Gaspar de Figueroa adorn the walls.
The church was rebuilt after the earthquake in 1785. Directions: downtown
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If you are in Bogotá on Sunday be sure that you go to colourful Mercado de San Alejo, a flea market with people selling everything imaginable. In recent years it has became an urban tradition where hundreds of families with differents skills and knowledge have met for years. There are auctions of antiques and art collectibles.
It has shops and stands offering a wide selection of Colombian crafts. Of particular interest are ceramics, pre-Columbian reproductions and it is a good place to buy woollen fabrics. For the lovers of salsa music, there is also a meeting of collectors.
Mercado de San Alejo is open on Sunday from 09:00am to 05:00pm.
Others Bogotá's best known flea markets are Parque de los Periodistas (corner of Avenida Jiménez and Carrera 3) and Plaza Central de Usaquen in northern Bogotá. Directions: downtown; in the parking lot in front of the Torre Colpatria
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on February 12, 2009
on December 23, 2007
