La Candelaria

We took a tour yesterday afternoon of the La Candelaria area downtown. This is an area that was initially established in the mid 1500's by the Spanish when they settled into the area. The square is surrounded by many Universities, so it attracts many students and artists.

While there we went to the Gold Museum which has gold pieces from all around the country and artifacts from long ago. We also toured a Mint Museum (where they make money). There were a couple of large items that were from a Jesuit church; they were called Cadis. The Cadis was used to hold the hosts for communion and to be blessed by the priest. The gold was impressive, however there were about 1,400+ emeralds on it. Very beautiful. If you don't know we have heard that about 90% of the world's emeralds come from Colombia.

After this we went to the Botero Gallery. He is a world famous Colombian artist, and the subjects of his pictures have exagerated features. It is actually pretty cool to see his work. We're not sure if his artwork is suppose to be funny, but we certainly got a kick out of some of it. Unfortunately we weren't able to take pictures of the paintings, but we do have a picture of us in front of a hand sculpture there.

The buildings around La Candeleria are very beautiful. The National Capitol is there, and behind that is the Presidential Palace. There is a cathedral which is the largest in Colombia, and the oldest church in Bogota is also there. Along with that we saw the Archbishop's Palace, the Palace of Justice, and the mayor's office building. In the actual square, known as Bolivar Square, was a mercado and tons of merchants from nearby villages selling fruits and vegetables, and roasting meats for sale.

It was a nice afternoon. We ended it with a piece of pie at El Corral and fed Dana. Andy ended up taking a nap on my shoulder for part of the afternoon.


Bolivar Square with the mayor's office building in the background.

The Botero Museum.

Views of Moinserrate on top of the hill.

A Presidential guard near the palace.

A beautiful view down a side street. Everywhere you look - Mountains.

The National capitol.

Jodie and the kids hanging out in front of the Presidential Palace fence.

The oldest church in Bogota.

Here is the Presidential Palace. We were not invited in.

The Archbishop's Palace.

This is a boys' school on the square.

The Palace of Justice

Juan Carlos was our guide for the day. He is our age, and has tons of knowledge.

Posing in front of a "chiva," which is a traditional Colombian bus used to transport people and goods. We have also heard them referred to as party buses.

The building behind us is where the beginning of Colombia occurred. This is where it started.