- San Francisco - built in 1567 elaborately decorated with a huge wooden altar columns covered with gold leaf/
- Santa Clara - built early in the 17th century this single nave church has wonderful frescos completely restored and now a museum. The once cloistered convent of nuns now dismantled had an exceptional screen used to hide the nun's choir.
- San Ignacio - inspired by the Church of San Jesús de Roma, this sumptuously decorated church has very high naves, Baroque altars and sculpture by Pedro de Laboria.
The city has a number of great museums most of which can be seen in an hour or two but be sure to schedule plenty of time for the Museo del Oro the home of more than 30,000 objects of pre-Colombian goldwork. The museum is like a fort protecting the treasures within such as the tiny Muisca boat depicting the ritual of throwing gold into Lake Guatavita to appease the gods or the emerald and diamond studded crosses from the colonial period.
You might be interested in the model of the Ciudad Perdida the Lost City of Taironas that was found near Santa Marta in 1975. The discovery of the city larger than Machu Picchu is one of the most important archaeological finds in South America. The highlight of any visit to the Gold Museum is the strong room where small groups of visitors enter a darkened room and then audibly gasp when the lights reveal the 12,000 pieces in the room.
The Museo Nacional de Colombia has a broader range of display of archaeological ethnic and historical importance. The museum is housed in a prison designed by an American Thomas Reed so that all cells would be visible from a single observation point. Other museums of interest:
- Museo Colonial - housed in the old Jesuit monastery built about 1640 the museum displays the life and times of the Viceroyalty period.
- Museo de Arte Religioso - collection of religious art popular in colonial times.
- Museo de Arte Moderno - houses the work of contemporary artists.
- Quinta de Bolívar - on display at the magnificent country home of Simon Bolívar at the base of Cerro Montserrate are his furniture documents and items of personal use of the Liberator and his mistress Manuela Sáenz. Don't miss a stroll through the lawns and gardens.
- Other museums of note are the Museo Arqueológico Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares Museo del Siglo XIX Museo de Numismática and the Museo de los Niños.
There is enough to see in Bogotá for a several day visit. When museums and churches pall there is an active nightlife with restaurants theaters and more. Plan to visit the elegant Teatro Colón during a performance which is the only time the theater is open.
Not in the city proper but well worth a two hour drive north is the Cathedral of Zipaquira, the cathedral of salt. This is built in a salt mine working long before the Spaniards arrived which by the 1920's had created a cavern so large the Banco de la Republica built a cathedral there. The cathedral is 23 m. high (75 ft) and has held 10,000 people. Colombians will tell you that there is still enough salt in the mine to supply the world for a hundred years.
If you plan to tour other areas of the country, you'll find this map of Colombia (direct buy).
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