A stroll through the historic district of Bogotá

Today I am going to continue telling you about our visit to Bogotá in Colombia. And I invite you to join me on a visit to the historic center of the city.

That day we ask the taxi driver to drop us off near the Plaza de Bolívar. This is the principal square. It is surrounded by some of the most important and historical buildings in the city.

The Catedral Primada de Colombia is located in this square.

And making a corner of the cathedral, on another side of the square, is the Palace of Justice building.

Another of the buildings that surround the square is the Liévano Palace, where the Mayor's Office of Bogotá is located.

In the square, there were lots of pigeons, and some people had no problem lying down on the ground to have their photos taken surrounded by pigeons. Not my case;) To be honest, I don't like pigeons much.

At a central point of the square, there is a statue of Simón Bolívar. And behind it, in the background of the photograph, you can see the National Capitol building, which is another of the important buildings that flank the square. I did not photograph it since part of its facade was covered with scaffolding. What we did was go to the building of the Catedral Primada de Colombia to visit it inside.

The neoclassical cathedral is located on the site where the first church of the city was built.

Next to the cathedral building, there is a small chapel, the Chapel of the Tabernacle (Capilla del Sagrario).

It is considered part of the cathedral but is located in a separate building with independent access.

This small baroque-style chapel houses the Blessed Sacrament.

From the corner of the cathedral in the square, we walk along Calle 11 in an easterly direction towards the Botero Museum.

This museum and the Gold Museum were the ones we visited on our trip to Bogotá, and both are not to be missed.

The Botero Museum is located in a large colonial house. It is relatively small but has one of the best art collections I have seen in Latin America.

All the works in the museum were donated by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Some of his works. And a significant amount of works from his collection of other artists, paintings, and sculptures by artists such as Miró, Dalí, Chagall, Picasso, Calder, Henry Moore, Degas, and Monet to name a few.

And as if that wasn't enough, access to the museum is free of charge. For those who do not know the work of Fernando Botero, I leave you this little information.

Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He is considered the most recognized and quoted living artist from Latin America, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Source.

So a visit to the Museo Botero for me is a must-do on a trip to Bogotá.

After the visit to the museum, we were hungry and wanted to eat at a classic place in the center of Bogotá called La Puerta Falsa. But the queue outside was long and it was drizzling, so we decided to go to a nearby place called La Puerta de la Catedral.

There was no wait to be seated there, but the service was quite slow. It might have taken us as long as if we had waited at the other place, but the food was good.

We had a few beers, some empanaditas, and a portion of chicharrón, which I forgot to photograph. And then we each had an ajiaco. The ajiaco, which I mentioned in the post about Monserrate, is a typical Bogotá soup. It is very thick, made with potatoes, and cooked with a herb called guasca, shredded chicken, and capers. It is served with corn on the cob, sour cream, rice, and avocado. This was delicious and was the best ajiaco we had in our days in Bogotá.

After the meal, we left the area of the Plaza de Bolívar and the Cathedral behind and walked along the avenue to the east to continue visiting La Candelaria.

And we walked around the Chorro de Quevedo square and the Calle del Embudo that I already told you about.

Thank you for reading!

_{All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.}

© CoquiCoin

October 5, 2022