The Candelaria, Bogotá

The historical centre of Bogotá is called Candelaria, if you come by TransMilenio

Then get off at the Las Aguas stop. This zone is a seat of the most important museums, like The Museum of Gold, of Independence, The Coin Museum, The Botero Museum, and Military Museum. In the Simon Bolivar’s Square there are located buildings of the highest importance in the state. One of them being the Presidential Palace,  that is guarded by La Guardia Presidencial, special police force to secure the building. The access is controlled and everyone is obliged to show the contents of their bags or rucksacks. It was quite an intimidating experience as the guards carried long rifles and grenades.

Patrolled street of the Presidential Palace

Palace of Justice

Primary Cathedral view

In the Bolivar Square there are other buildings, such as the National Capitol -Colombian Congress, Liévano building – Mayor’s seat, The Primary Cathedral of Bogotá, Palace of Justice, Museum of the Independence. Within the zone there is also the Mexican – Colombian Cultural Centre located, that offers expositions of the modern Latin American art and temporary expositions, during our visit there was a Contemporary Cuban Paintings exposition.

We were not able to enter the Gold Museum, as it is closed on Mondays (!) and we arrived too late to see the Museum of Independencia.

Botero Museum opening hours

Out of the museums we have visited the Botero is the top one! The genius of this Colombian artist can be appreciated, as the museum holds plenty of his paintings and sculptures. To me, Botero is a genius. The way he sees the World is unique, like Picasso. His characters are hilariously portrayed and obese. The ugliness of the faces converts into a genius and a grotesque.  Maybe he is foreseeing the future?

One of Botero's paintings "La Playa"

The Candelaria concentrates a good number of little restaurants, which serve typical Colombian food or sweets. We were tempted by a Cocolada, a kind of biscuit, which consists of a roughly grated coconut flesh mixed with passion fruit and sugar. Worth mentioning is the cafeteria “Juan Valdez”, which is similar to Starbucks, but national, supports local producers and serves only Colombian coffee. We have also tried empanadas with cheese, which are served with different sauces: guacamole, tartare, spicy pepper, lemon, pink sauce (ketchup & mayo) and a kind of spicy vinaigrette. Delicious!

Coconut-passionfruit treat