Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [49]
A block south, you’ll pass the white Observatorio Astronómico (Map). Conceptualized by celebrated Colombian botanist José Celestino Mutis, the 1803 tower is reputedly the first astronomical observatory built on the continent. It’s possible to visit on the third Thursday of each month, but you must reserve a week ahead. Email your name, nationality and passport number to museos@unal.edu.co to reserve a spot.
Nearby, the fun Museo del Siglo XIX (Museum of the 19th Century; Map; 281 9948; Carrera 8 No 7-93; admission incl guide COP$2300; 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat) offers a look inside something other than Spanish colonial Bogotá. The museum fills a former Repúblicano-style home built intentionally in English and French styles in two swoops (in 1850 and 1880). A visit takes in a sample of 19th-century capital life, with a refashioned pharmacy, corsets galore, and an all‑decked-out parlor with a secret chamber and porcelain spit jars. Don’t miss the 3000-piece toy doll collection, the culmination of six decades of collection by a couple local señoras.
A couple of blocks east, the Museo Arqueológico (Archeological Museum; MUSA; Map; 243 1048; Carrera 6 No 7-43; adult/student COP$3000/2000; 8:30am-5pm Tue-Fri, 9:30am-5pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun) is a quirky, not quite fully realized survey of pre-Columbian groups through pottery pieces from around the country. Perhaps best is the building, a lovely 17th-century townhouse that seems almost surprised with its latest incarnation. Signs are subtitled in English, and a timeline charts back from 1492, including early groups like Ilama (from 700BC).
Note: Guards around the president’s palace stand at barriers on Carreras 7 and 8. It’s OK to pass them, just show the contents of your bag and stay clear of the fence-side sidewalks.
WEST OF PLAZA DE BOLÍVAR
The surprisingly worthwhile Museo Histórico Policia (Museum of Police History; Map; 233 5911; Calle 9 No 9-27; admission free; 8am-5pm Tue-Sun) not only gets you inside the lovely ex-HQ (built in 1923) of Bogotá’s police force, but gives you 45 minutes or so of contact time with 18-year-old, English-speaking local guides who are serving a one-year compulsory service with the police (interesting tales to be heard). The best parts otherwise follow cocaine-kingpin Pablo Escobar’s demise in 1993 – with a model dummy of his bullet-ridden corpse – or the surreal juxtaposition of a Neanderthal-fight mural before cases and cases of more modern means of killing each other (pistols and rifles).
While you’re in the area, take a look at the crafts for sale at Pasaje Rivas.
PLAZOLETA DEL CHORRO QUEVEDO
No one agrees exactly where Bogotá was originally founded – some say by the Catedral Primada on the Plaza de Bolívar, others say here, in this wee plaza (Map; cnr Carrera 2 & Calle 13) lined with cafes, a small white church and many boho street vendors (or hacky-sack players). It’s a cute spot any time of day, but particularly as dark comes – and students pour onto the scene – in the narrow funnel-like alley leading past pocket-sized bars just north.
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Cerro de Monserrate & Around
Bogotá’s proud symbol – and convenient point of reference – is this white-church-topped 3152m Monserrate peak (Map) flanking the city’s east, about 1.5km from La Candelaria and visible from most parts across Sabana de Bogotá (Bogotá savannah, sometimes called the valley). The top has gorgeous views of the 1700-sq-km capital sprawl. On a clear day you can even spot the symmetrical cone of Nevado del Tolima, part of Los Nevados volcanic range in the Cordillera Central, 135km west.
The church up top is a major mecca for pilgrims, due to the church’s altar statue of the Señor Caído (Fallen Christ), dating from the 1650s, to which many miracles have been attributed. The church was erected after the original chapel was destroyed