Bogotá: colonial center and view from above

In Plaza Bolívar, surrounded by the Primate Cathedral, the Palace of Justice, and the National Capitol, the religious, judicial, and political power of Colombia converges in a single open space.

The Gold Museum safeguards over thirty thousand pieces of pre-Columbian goldwork, including the famous Muisca golden raft that inspired the legend of El Dorado told to Spanish conquistadors.

The streets of La Candelaria, with their colorful facades and carved wooden balconies, still host seventeenth-century colonial houses alongside contemporary murals that cover entire blank walls.

The Cerro de Monserrate, accessible by funicular or cable car, leads to a sanctuary at 3,150 meters from which all of Bogotà stretches across the Andean savanna as far as the eye can see.

From the Monserrate terrace, La Candelaria appears as a neat grid in the midst of a metropolis of eight million inhabitants stretching well beyond the eye.

Descending to the center, that same grid reveals itself made of details — a balcony, a mural, a pre-Columbian gold display — that remain simply invisible from above.