Columbia, Bogotá: The City of Contrasts

Bogotá, the capital of Columbia, is one of the largest Latin American capitals. By its population it is seven times larger than Prague and it makes one quarter of Colombian GDP. The city consists of four parts – poor South, El Centro where are most of historical sights, El Occidente where are main stadiums and parks, and the North which is the most modern part of the city. Bogotá as industrial and economical heart of Colombia however, the city suffers of traditional civilization diseases. The most horrible one is perhaps poverty and violence. Despite harsh contrasts you can see in the city, tourists more and more often visit it. Credit for this comes to Colombian government that back in 2000 launched an aggressive campaign trying to enhance infrastructure and reduce violence to make better opportunities for tourism.

Carrera Séptima is perhaps the most important street in the city. Once it had been the Royal Street . On this street we can find many sights of Bogotá, for example Parque nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera, which is definitely worth visiting. The park lies in 2600-3100 meters above the sea level and people of Bogotá can play tennis here, ride on roller-skates, and last but not least you may find here a children theatre with a capacity of 300 seats, where children plays are regularly performed.

After the year 2000 Bogotá experienced an intensive construction of hotels and other accommodation facilities, which were established mostly in the historical district La Candelaria (the Old Town). With La Candelaria are tightly connected important event of Colombian and Latin-American history. You may find here some places that are also tightly connected to history and culture of Bogotá.

Among institutions that are more culture oriented is for example Museo Botero placed in the house built in the beginning of the 18. Century. The museum itself has been established in the year 2000 thanks to the initiative of Fernando Botero, an artist who donated more than 200 works of art to the Central Bank.

Very important sight is for example also Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango that is the most important public library in Latin America. It was established in 1923 and in its first years you could find here only few books related to economy. Nevertheless, today there are millions books devoted to all kinds of subjects – from geography to social sciences. In the library also is a bookstore where you can buy some publication related to Colombia.

One of the most impressive places you can visit here is Museo del Oro, the Museum of Gold. In its four exhibitions are displayed almost 6 000 items. These are mostly gold products from pre-Columbus era. . However, they are only a tenth of total museum’s collection. Also you can see here an exhibition of gold mining and manufacturing; another exhibition shows the role of gold in everyday life; the third exhibition is focused on symbolism and mythology connected to gold in pre-Columbian Latin America

 

Text: Maxim Kucer

Foto: Wikimedia Commons Elviper, Wikipedia.org  Zaryaz, Mrtony77, william.neuheisel, Frank Ballesteros, Andrew Bertram