Bogota is the capital of Colombia, it is also a beautiful city full of pleasures and a unique magic. It is known and loved by Colombians as well as by everyone who visits it, because of its exquisite gastronomy, its modern and classic architecture and the places of cultural interest and entertainment.
It is a vast and very high city that has been called “The South American Athens”, a nickname that strengthened at the end of XIX century and at the beginning of XX century, as an initiative of Spanish writer Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo, due to the big admiration he had for Colombian philosophers.
It has a wide cultural offer that has increased considerably in recent decades, as well as being the headquarters of important festivals of wide tradition and national and international recognition.
It should be noted that there are people from all over the country who have contributed to maintaining the old typical cultural traditions that characterize it. In 2007, it was given by Unesco, the title of World Capital of Books. It was also declared the Ibero-American capital of culture that same year. In May of 2012 Unesco named it as “The Creative City of Music”, as part of the Network of Creative Cities of the organization.
One of the most visited places in the city is La Candelaria, (a paving center of the city), it is the historic and culture heart of Bogotá. Although colonial architecture has not been kept intact, it is said that the area is one of the best preserved in Latin America. Visitors can see the colonial houses with their barred windows, carved doors and red tile roofs.
There are also many monuments of the colonial era such as the Teatro Colón, with a neoclassical style, and the church of San Francisco, dating from the seventeenth century. In it, also, there are popular museums, such as Botero Museum, which organizes exhibitions of Fernando Botero’s works, and the Gold Museum, which exhibits pre-Columbian gold pieces.
One of the milestones that go with it, around ‘La Vanguardia’, beyond the Monserrate hill or the Gold Museum, is the Ibero-American Theater Festival, whose success transcends the very limits of the performing arts.
Traveling to Bogotá is an adventure itself. Its inhabitants make tourists feel more than welcomed, as they make them feel, as if they were in their own home. For them, it offers many options to party or “rumbear”. Although there are bars and clubs throughout the city, the Zona Rosa is the largest sector to enjoy nightlife. It is full of bars and restaurants, that will make you hallucinate.
Among its varied gastronomy, dare to try its typical food such as the famous and delicious Paisa tray, the ajiaco, the lulo juice, the tamales, the arepas and their delicious empanadas, all these delicacies, with their characteristics and ingredients, particular of the zone.
Definitely, Bogota is a destination that you can not miss, either alone or accompanied.
ALFA