The real gem of the Colombian capital is without doubt the old town, the historical city center «La Candelaria». A gorgeous neighborhood, known for the colorful Spanish colonial, baroque and art-deco style buildings, the numerous museums and the unique graffiti on the façades of the old houses. The area is quite big and the visitor needs the whole day to explore it, as most of the historical but also modern attractions are placed there: several famous museums, such as the Museo Botero, the Gold museum, the Cultural Center Gabriel García Márquez, the Colon Theater, the Plaza Bolívar with the statue of the political leader Simon Bolívar and the Cathedral, and many more.
Although Ι walked around almost the whole area, Ι focused more on the part up to the Bolivar square, where the cobblestone alleys echo back to another era. The colorful ground (or up to one floor) buildings with the beautiful interior yards are home to museums, public services, small hostels and cozy café/restaurants, while some of them still remain local houses.
The area as seen from Bolival square
Useful maps to help you find the places you are interested in
Instituto Caro y Cuervo, a beautiful colonial building..
…and its picturesque interior yard
Street vendors selling beverages, snacks and desserts
The truth is that walking up towards the hill, tourists are fewer and the cobblestone streets are more picturesque. As we didn’t have much time left, we decided to wander around the southeastern part of that area to take pictures. “La Candelaria” is generally safe during the day, but it needs extra precaution at night, as it gets desolate and tourists become an easy target to robbers. Police officers patrol inside the old town and around the “safe zone” all the time (there is a safe zone from which tourists should not exit).
Me and my co-traveler accidentally left it, as we were so much excited of the beauty of this place and we walked towards an open area to take more photos. Fortunately, two policemen patrolling that road stopped us and strongly advised us not walking at that side of the neighborhood especially when holding cameras. Therefore, they escorted us back to the “safe area”. The distance was just a few meters!!! (the safe borderline at this side is Calle 8 and the Carrera before the notorious Egipto neighborhood to the east). Thus, we returned and went on with our photography tour to the rest of Bogotá historical center.
