Plaza Bolivar

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The heart of the city is the Plaza de Bolivar, the home of the most representative institutions of the nation and of the city. The National Capitolium, seat of the Congress of the Republic stands here, built in neo-classical style with an original design by the Englishman Thomas Reed, whose first stone was laid in 1847 and which subsequently has undergone several modifications. The Office of the Mayor of Bogota is the work of the Frenchman Gaston Lelarge, inaugurated in 1905 after a fire ruined the spacious building of the Arriba galleries which functioned there. The Cathedral Primada also stands in the square, built between 1807 and 1823 on the same spot as the colonial basilica and where the remains of the founders of the city are preserved; the Chapel of Sagrarium, with its arcade in stone of plateresque style; and the Archbishop’s Palace, the seat of ecclesiastic power. In the centre of the square stands the statue of the Liberator Simon Bolivar. Behind the Capitolium stands the Casa de Narino, the seat of executive power and the residence of the President of the Republic.

The Plaza de Bolivar is the nation’s principal public space. Its terrace was, in previous times, the meeting place for all who wished to meet without searching, since on its borders there were cafés, bookstores, antique shops, and different businesses which enlivened urban life, not to mention government bodies. Today it is a natural space for important artistic, political, social and cultural expressions, which makes the Plaza de Bolivar the symbolic centre of city life.

Comments

[Aldona]

I LOVE LOCOMBIA!!! VIVA Colombia. I think this was the best country I visited in South America. Wish more people said positive things about it.