Bogota is located in the center of the country, 2,640
meters above sea level, on a plateau of the Eastern mountain range of
The Andes, latitude 3°41'24"N to 4°49'54"N and longitude
74.3°W. The city has an area of 1,587 square kilometers (612.74
sq. miles). Including the metropolitan area, its surface is 1,732 square
kilometers (668.73 sq. miles). Average daily temperatures rang from
9 to 22 degrees Celsius (48.2 and 71.6°F.)
Bogota is the educational, cultural, commercial, administrative, financial,
and political center of Colombia.
The capital has approximately 6,776,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan
area has a population of 7,881,200, according to the census made by
DANE in 2005.
About the name
Bogota's name comes from the Chibcha word Bacatá. Bacata was
the territory of the zipa (overlord) of the Chibcha or Muisca Indian
tribes that inhabited the region before the arrival of the Spaniards.
Gonzalo Jimenez of Quesada was the first European to set foot in the
lands of the Chibchas nation in 1538. He founded the city of Santa Fe
(today known as Bogotá D.C.) that became the center of the government
of the territory called the New Kingdom of Granada, and where the Royal
Court of Santa Fe was established.
Later, the city adopted the name of Santafé de Bogotá.
In 1945 it became "Special District" and its official name
was Bogotá D.E. With the Constitution of 1991 the city was named
Santafé de Bogotá for the second time and received the
status of Capital District. In the year 2000 its name changed back to
Bogotá D.C.
DOWNTOWN
La Candelaria is the oldest district of Bogota situated between calle
7 and Avenida Jimenez and between carreras 1and 15.
The residential area is famous for its colonial style houses museums
and very important places worth visiting such as San Carlos Palace
the Luis Angel Arango Public Library, the Cristobal Colon Theater,
the Silva's Poetry House, the Museum of Numismatics, El Marques de
San Jorge House, La Quinta de Bolívar, the Fundación
Alzate Avendaño and La Candelaria, San Ignacio and Nuestra
Señora del Carmen churches.
On the Carreras 7 (formerly called La Calle Real) and carrera 8, you
will find the most important square of Bogota called La Plaza De Bolivar.
It is surrounded by The Capitolio Nacional, the City Hall of Bogotá,
the Law Courts, the Museum "20 de Julio", the Main Cathedral
of Colombia, the Tabernacle Chapel and the Archbishop residence.The
Nariño Palace (Presidential Palace) and the Echeverry Palace
are found on the south side..
Going towards the North, on the Carrera 7, are many important places
including the Santander, square, the Gold Museum, and the famous La
Tercera, La Veracruz and San Francisco Churches.
Further north, you will find The International Center, one of the
most important financial areas in the city.
In downtown are the Museum of Modern Art, the National Library, the
Park of La Independencia, the Planetarium, La Santamaría bullring,
the National Museum, the Bavaria Central Park, the Gonzalo Jimenez
de Quesada Convention Center, and many other interesting sites.
NORTH
There are many exclusive barrios (districts) in the north
of Bogota
Among them are La Cabrera, El Chicó, Santa Ana, Los Rosales,
El Nogal, Bosque de Los Pinos, El Retiro, Santa Barbara , Montearroyo
La Carolina and many others such as Antiguo Country, Avenida Chile,
La Bella Suiza ,Cedritos, Nueva Autopista, etc.
Interesting sites to visit in
this area:
El Parque de la 93 is one of the most exclusive sectors
in Bogota Some of the best hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and bars
are located in this area.
La Zona T and La Zona Rosa - between the streets 80 and 85 and carreras
(streets) 11 and 15 -
This area is one of the most popular for shopping, eating and clubbing.
La Avenida Chile or 72 street, is one of the most important business
sectors in Bogotá.
La Carrera 15 has the largest pedestrian-only zone in Bogotá.
It is located between la calle 72 and la calle 100 and is one of the
most important commercial districts in the north of Bogota
Main Shopping Centers
El Atlantis Plaza, el Centro Andino, Cedritos 151, el Centro
Comercial Santafé, (el más grande de Colombia) Centro
93, El Lago, El Retiro, Hacienda Santa Bárbara, BIMA , Palatino,
Santa Ana, Unicentro.
NORTHWEST
Some of the most prominent districts in this area are Pontevedra,
Los Lagartos,
Andes, Niza, San José de Bavaria, Pasadena, Las Colinas de
Suba and many others.
Main malls:
Bulevar Niza, Portoalegre, Paseo San Rafael, Iserra 100, Centro Suba,
Subazar, Plaza Imperial.
MID-NORTH (CHAPINERO AND SURROUNDINGS)
Some of the districts of this area are Chapinero, between calles
60 and 70 and Avenida Caracas (or carrera 14) and Carrera 7. Chapinero
has an important shopping area.
Teusaquillo, Santa Teresita, Palermo and La Soledad. About 40 years
ago these boroughs
were some of the most exclusive districts in the city.
There are still many important places in the area such as the Pontificia
Universidad Javeriana, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Clínica
de Marly, Clínica Palermo and some well known theaters. El Campín
is located between the calles 53 and 63 toward the west of Bogota. In
this district you will find The Nemesio Camacho El Campin Stadium, the
Coliseo Cubierto El Campin and amusement parks.
WEST
In the western section of the city there are several boroughs
such as Normandia, Nicolas de Federman, Metropolis Centro Nariño,
Kennedy, Puente Aranda, Salitre Modelia, Castilla-Marsella Fontibón,
and Tintal
Places worth visiting in this area:
Simon Bolivar Metropolitan Park
In Simon Bolivar Metropolitan Park, the largest in the city, you will
find
El Salitre amusement park, The Sports Unit, The Sports Center, The
Acuaparque, the Children's museum, and Maloka, an interactive science
center.
Main malls
Alamos, Diverplaza, Galerías Gran Estación, Metrópolis,
Portal de la 80, Salitre Plaza, Unicentro de Occidente.
SOUTH AND SOUTHWESTERN AREAS
Some of the barrios (districts) in the south of Bogota are
Ciudad Bolivar (subdivided in smaller districts), 20 de Julio, Santa
Bárbara Sur, Antonio Nariño, , Rafael Uribe Uribe, Barrio
Egipto, La Perseverancia, Barrio Restrepo, Paloquemao and many others.
Interesting places to visit in this area:
El Tunal Park, El Tunal Public Library, beautiful parks and amusement
parks.
Main Shopping Centers:
Ciudad Tunal, Plaza de Las Américas and Tintal Plaza
MAPS
To see the map of Bogota go to this link
TOURISM IN BOGOTA - TOURIST PLACES
- SITES OF INTEREST
There are many places to visit while in Bogota. Excellent hotels,
restaurants, museums, art galleries, concert halls, nightclubs,
pubs, bars, amusement parks, sport clubs, stadiums and arenas, ancient
churches, and many other very interesting places.
To visit the main tourist places in Bogotá,
go to this link
LODGING GUIDE
HOTELS
There is a great variety of hotels, suites, apartment-hotels
and inns within the city and near the El Dorado International Airport.
For information on hotels,
click here
DINING GUIDE
Restaurants
You will find a great variety of restaurants that serve regional food,
seafood, Latin American food, international food, vegetarian and health
food restaurants.
For more information on restaurants, click
here
Pastry shops, bakeries, tea-rooms
If you have a sweet tooth, visit our best pastry shops in the city.
For information, click here
SHOPPING
Shopping Centers, stores, supermarkets and shops
There is available a wide variety of of stores . There are clothing
stores that sell clothes from all over the word, household articles,
electronic products stores, music stores, art shops, bookstores, jewelry
stores, drugstores, car agencies, supermarkets and markets with a
great variety of foods... whatever you need, you will find it in Bogota.
To see PHOTOS of some shopping centers
and stores,
go to this link
For information regarding shopping centers and other stores
click here
NIGHTLIFE
Night clubs, disco clubs, pubs and bars, shows,
etc.
There are many places all over the city to have a great time and
dance the night away.
There are a variety of great bars and pubs, places to dance salsa,
cumbia, porro, vallenata music, soft music, rock, hard rock, places
with crossover music, places to listen to jazz, blues etc.
For information on nightlife in the city click
here
Casinos
Visitors who enjoy gambling, will be welcome to visit casinos around
the city. There are great places with table games, slot machines,
restaurants and excellent shows
The casinos in Bogota offer Baccarat, Roulette, Poker, Pari-mutuel
and other lottery games.
The largest casino has 30 table games, 160 slots and video poker machines
and is located in the western area of the city.
For information about casinos, click
here
TOURS AND DAY TRIPS
Bogota offers many sightseeing tours around the city Including entrance
to museums, art galleries, restaurants and night life, and also educational
tours. There are tours to nearby towns such as the tour to Zipaquirá
to visit the Salt Cathedral, a cathedral built inside a salt mine.
For more information on tours and schedules in Bogota, go
to this link
ATTRACTIONS
Theaters, cinemas, concert halls
Visitors can enjoy visits to the theater, to see shows by great artist,
comedies, open air performances, movies, or listening to beautiful
classical, regional and folk music in concert halls.
For more information click
here
Museums and Art Galleries
There are about 80 museums in Bogota: fine arts museums, contemporary
and modern art, religious art, history, museums of archaeology, science
and technology, and many others.
Some of the main ones are:
Fine Arts museums
National Museum -fine arts, history, anthropology, ethnography - Carrera
7 #28-66 - (downtown)
Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO) Calle 24 # 6-00 (downtown)
Colonial Art museum Carrera 6 # 9-77 (downtown)
The Church of Santa Clara Museum - colonial religious art - Carrera
8 # 8-91 (downtown)
Botero Museum Calle 11 # 4-41 (downtown)
Mercedes Sierra de Pérez El Chicó Museum Carrera 7 #
93-01 (northern area)
Contemporary Art Museum Carrera 74 # 82A-81 (northwestern area)
Colsubsidio Museum of Museums Calle 26 # 25-42 (downtown west)
Archeological museums
The Gold Museum Calle 16 # 5-41 (downtown)
Casa del Marqués de San Jorge Carrera 6 # 7-43 (downtown)
History Museums
Museum of Bogota Calle 26 # 6-07 (downtown)
Casa 20 de Julio Calle 11 # 6-94 (downtown)
Quinta de Bolívar (history and art) Calle 20 # 3-23 (downtown)
Natural History Museum Carrera 7 # 26-14 (downtown)
Science and Technology Museums
MALOKA Carrera 68D # 40A-51 (western area)
Museo Aeroespacial Colombiano MAECO CATAM Phone 439-7800 (western
area)
Children's Museum Carrera 48 # 63-97 (western area)
To find out about many other museums go to this link
Art Galleries
Many art galleries are found in Bogota. Well known artists and young
artists exhibit their work in all sorts of galleries assigned to fine,
modern and contemporary art
For information on art galleries and exhibitions
click here
Parks and recreation places -
Sport Centers
Great places worth visiting are the hill of Monserrate,
the
Botanical Garden, Maloka (an interactive
Center of Science and Technology) open air stages and arenas for
shows such as the Santamaria
bullring,
(bullfighting and shows) The Nemesio Camacho
El Campín Stadium,
(soccer and shows) the Alfonso López Pumarejo
Stadium inside
the Universidad Nacional campus and La Media
Torta (open air shows)
Parks
Simon Bolivar Metropolitan Park located in the western area
(
Avenida (carrera) 68 and 58 / Calles 53 and 63)
is formed by a group of parks and sport complexes such as the Simon
Bolivar Central Park and the events square that holds 150,000
people, the Aquatic Complex, the Sports Center, the Sports Unit, The
Salitre Park that includes the velodrome and the baseball
stadium, the Salitre Magico amusement park , Cici
Aquapark, and El
Lago Metropolitan park.
The Panaca Park is a very large farming complex where the visitor
will have fun while observing and learning farming techniques and
the procedures for handling animals safely. Besides, a visitor will
be able to participate in activities that are carried out daily. The
park is divided into 8 sections or stations with 2,400 animals. The
complex has four exhibition coliseums, 30 restaurants, and 17 stores,.
The park is located in the municipality of Zipaquirá and has
an area of 248 square miles. It can hold up to 3,000 people.
Other parks in the city are The National Park,
Carrera 7 Calle 39 (Mid-North) which is the third largest park in the city,
El Virrey Park - Calle 88 between Ave. 7 Autopista
Norte (North)
Park of the 93 - Calle 93 Carreraas 11 and 13 (North)
Chicó Park - Chicó borough
(North)
Park of the 85 - Calle 85 Carrera 13 (North)
El Prado Park Autopista
Norte and calle 131 (North)
San Rafael Park La Calera neighborhood
(North)
La Soledad Park La Soledad borough (Mid-North)
Renacimiento Park Calle 26 (Downtown)
San
Andrés Park (West)
Sauzalito Park, (West)
Timiza Metropolitan Park (South)
El Tunal Metropolitan Park (South)
Mundo Aventura Amusement Park - Transversal 71 D No. 6-30 Sur (South)
Entre
las Nubes Ecological park (South East)
The
Jaime Duque Park (Municipality of Sopó) where the Zoo is located
and the
Tocancipá car
race track.
To see photos
of some of the parks, go to this
link
SERVICES
Tourist Services - Emergency telephone numbers-
Others
Visiors will find the services they require including professional
services (doctors, lawyers, dentists, ophthalmologists, etc.) to general
services such as banks, car rentals, money exchange, travel agents,
insurance companies, etc.
For more information regarding services, click
here
Hospitals. Clinics and medical Centers
in Bogota has many health centers, private clinics and state
hospitals with excellent services. Bogota has a network of institutions
enrolled in the District Department of Health that render medical
and hospital services. It has also 142 public medical clinics distributed
all over the city. At present, there are 22 health organizations (EPS)
that render services to more than 4,900,000 patients.
For a list of hospitals addresses and private clinics, go
to this
link
Transportation
Public transport in Bogota has improved considerably over recent years.
Transmilenio is a system of mass transportation that came into operation
at the beginning of 2001 It provides efficient transportation for
thousands of people all over the city. These buses have terminals
where people arrive through side bus services called alimentadores.
Besides that, there are many other bus services, busetas, colectivos,
and taxis.
The use of bicycles has been promoted in the last years as an alternative
way of transportation. There are many pathways for bicycles (ciclo-rutas)
within the city.
To enter and exit the city there is very good bus service called flotas.
Flota provides services to many cities and towns in Colombia. There
is also a good train service, but air connections remain the main
way to travel. El Dorado International Airport is the most important
airport in Bogota and in Colombia.
For transport fare and more information, go to this link
EVENTS
Many different types of events take place every day in Bogotá.
Theater, classical and popular music concerts, exhibitions, sports
and table games events,
shows, etc. Some special events take place every year such as the
annual Book Fair, Expodiseño, Expohogar the Carnival of Bogota
that begins August 6, birthday of the city, the Festival of Salsa
al Parque (park) Festival of Jazz al Paque, Festival of Opera al Parque,
Festival of Rock al Parque, the bullfighting season, the ibero-American
Festival of Theater, Festival of Summer and European film Festival.
The International Fair of Bogota, held every other year in Corferias
(Corporation of Fairs and Exhibitions)
For information on current events, places where they are taking
place and time of the events, go to this link
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
LIBRARIES
Bogota has 33 public libraries The main ones are:
The National Library is the backbone of the public library system.
It has over 800,000 books and Incunabula collection of 30.000 books
and manuscripts The building has many reading rooms, a music hall
and auditorium Address: Calle 24 # 5-80
The Luis Angel Arango Library, located in the heart of the historic
district of la Candelaria, (Calle11 # 4-14) is one of the best equipped
libraries in Latin America. It has large reading rooms, art galleries,
and an excellent auditorium.
The Virgilio Barco Public Library is found in the west of Bogota,
adjacent to the Simón Bolivar park. The main room has 3 levels
with 64 reading areas. It has near 25.000 books and a
capacity for 130.000. Address: Carrera 48 # 61-50
El Tunal Public Library is situated in south Bogota It has over 110.000
books, large reading rooms, a music hall and an auditorium. Address:
Calle 48B Sur # 21-13.
El Tintal Public Library - Address: Avenida Ciudad de Cali # 6B-49.
World Capital of the Book
Bogota has been awarded the title of "The World Capital
of the Book" for the year 2007 offered by UNESCO as recognition
to the quality of its programs to promote the diffusion of books and
to promote reading.
SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, AND EDUCATION INSTITUTES
There are many public and private elementary and high schools, universities,
Institutes, technical school centers, language schools, etc.
Among the private universities are Los Andes University, the Javeriana
University, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, University
of Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano, University of La Sabana, La Gran Colombia
University , Sergio Arboleda University, The Colombian School of Engineering
Julio Garavito, La Salle University, Santo Tomás University,
El Externado de Colombia University among others. Public universities,
such as the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca,
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas Universidad
Militar Nueva Granada Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. Also
there are many public schools, institutes, private schools, centers
of education on technical levels such as the SENA, the Polytechnic
Institute and many others.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
The most important government buildings are: The Palace of Nariño
or Presidential Palace, home of President of the Republic of Colombia
(Current President, Álvaro Uribe Vélez); the Liévano
building, the city Hall of Bogota (Current Mayor, Luis Eduardo Garzón);
the National Capitol, headquarters of the Congress of the Republic
of Colombia, the Law Courts, where the members of the Supreme Court
of Justice hold office, the Palace of San Carlos, headquarters of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Murillo Toro Building where the
Ministry of Communications is located.
To see photos of the Alcaldia de Bogota (City
Hall), the Palaciode Nariño (Presidencial
Palace, el Capitolio (The National Capitol) and the Palacio de San
Carlos,
go to this link
LINKS
Bogota DC
Embbassies
and Consulates in Bogota
Hotels
in Bogota
Restaurants
Hospitals
and clinics in Bogota
Business
(stores, supermarkets, etc)
Banks
Professional
Services (doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc)
Transmilenio
Photos
Shows,
spectacles, other events
Tourism
(tourist places)
If interested...
Music
(regional)
Recipes
(dishes from Bogota)
