The Heritage Towns of Colombia will welcome you with their cobblestone streets, blossoming terraces, colonial architecture, myriad colors, but above all, with their warm inhabitants. They’re the perfect place to experience new cultures hand in hand with the most welcoming people in the world.

The Heritage Towns of Colombia will welcome you with their cobblestone streets, blossoming terraces, colonial architecture, myriad colors, but above all, with their warm inhabitants. They’re the perfect place to experience new cultures hand in hand with the most welcoming people in the world.

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Barichara (Santander) “The most beautiful town in Colombia”

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Barichara (Santander), this town of the ‘yellow-legged’ –as I know usually calls its inhabitants, since in ancient times the natives, who walked barefoot, they stained their feet with the earth yellow-; of the Guanentá chief, of the stone carvers, of ancestral knowledge and flavors, of quiet customs, evocative paintings and shelter of artists was the destination chosen to take our vacation in this dream place, which seems stopped in time, as in an eternal present.

Barichara is located 329 km north of Bogota Time approximate of land tour is six hours by the via Tunja – San Gil.

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Santa Cruz de Mompox, is a very well kept treasure

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Santa Cruz de Mompox is one of the only two Colombian historic centres included in the World Heritage List in 1995. It is located at the north of the country, near the Caribbean Sea, in a very plane and humid region.

Mompox is located in an island surrounded by two branches of the Magdalena River, the main one of Colombia, which goes from south to north throughout most part of the country.

Mompox became soon (in less than hundred years) an important place, due to its location on the riverside of the main branch of Magdalena, in a middle point between the coast and some of the recently born cities at the inner areas, and in the place of intersection of some of the main routes of gold and commerce. Five religious communities, a Royal Factory of Aguardiente (Liquor) located just on main cities at that time, many houses of brick (usually most of the houses were made of not permanent materials in not such important cities), are some of the elements that shows the relevance of Mompox at the colonial period.

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Santa Fe de Antioquia, a good destination for walking

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Colombia is full of stunning little towns filled with history, beautiful architecture, and local charm—the Colombian tourism ministry has even created a network of 17 Pueblos Patrimonios(Heritage Towns), bringing them together under one banner. We will introduce you in this serie to these 17 stunning heritage towns.

Founded in 1541 and once the former capital of the Antioquia department—a distinction now belonging to Medellín which is just 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the south—Santa Fe de Antioquia has long been one of the most popular Heritage Towns for tourism due to its proximity to a major Colombian city, warm and pleasant climate, and beautiful colonial architecture.

This sleepy colonial town, founded by Jorge Robledo, is the region’s oldest settlement and was once the capital of Antioquia. The clock stands still at 1826, the year the government moved to Medellín. Because it was eclipsed for so long by its neighbor 80km southeast, its colonial center never fell to the wrecking ball and today it looks very much like it did in the 19th century. The narrow streets are lined with single-story, whitewashed houses, many arranged around beautiful courtyards. You’ll also see elaborately carved, typically Antioquian woodwork around windows and doorways.

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San Juan de Girón, has preserved the 46 blocks of its colonial zone

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San Juan de Girón, Known as “The white city” because of its preserved colonial architecture, and the predominating color of its doors, Windows and balconies. This is not only a rich destination for its architecture, it is also a place recommended for lovers of religious tradition, who can delight in the temples and their traditional devotion.

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Salamina, Coffee Zone with colonial houses

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With colorful balconies, colonial architecture, high mountains and hundreds of legends that reflect the sabrosura of its origin, Salamina, in the department of Caldas, becomes the ideal place to know the origin of the Colombian coffee culture. There, the traveler can visit haciendas and farms where it is taught how to grow, thresh and roast coffee made in Colombia, also you can test the type of grain grown in the región, which is exported and it’s unique due to the taste of the mountains. Because of the predominant religión in the country, Catholic, in Salamina every December the Night of Fire is celebrated, a feast in the ñame of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, patrón saint of the municipality. The inhabitants of the municipality adorn the streets with colorful lanterns ¡llustrating a path to the Virgin Mary.

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Jardin Antioquia, one of the most beautiful and visited heritage towns in Colombia.

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It belongs to the Tourist Network of Heritage Towns. If the traveler wants to discover the place where the most beautiful flowers of the world grow, Jardín, in Antioquia, is the perfect place to do it. There you can see the streets full of flower beds and pots that adorn the town with color. Jardín is also known as the most beautiful town in Antioquia, it offers traditional architecture of the Paisa región as well as prívate trips such as the garrucha, an aerial cableway where tourists can see the coffee landscape from above.

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Aguadas Caldas, Coffee in the Mountains

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Aguadas, this city located in northen Caldas is known as the “City of the mists” for its constant fog. It is a picturesque village that stands out for its landscapes, architecture, folklore and the kindness of its inhabitants, who with determination are responsible for preserving the traditions and customs of the typical Paisa people. Founded in 1 808, the city coexists between tradition and modernity, its people prepare every day to offer travelers a unique experience. Aguadas contains a large part of the history of the thriving and hardworking Antioquia that has extensively represented Colombia.

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Villa de Leyva Boyaca

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At 177 kilometers (110 miles) from the Colombian capital, Villa de Leyva conserves in its architectural heritage more than 4 0 0 years of history. Its sabrosura is among its oíd houses, cobbled streets and the widest plaza in the country, mixed with the rhythm of desert landscapes that surround this town of the department of Boyaca. It is a very attractive scenario for those who seek to make part, for a few moments, of the national past.

TO VISIT : Plaza Mayor; the Paleontológical Research Center, the Pozos Azules, the Antonio Ricaurte Museum, the desert, the fossil and wonderful vineyards.

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Villa de Leyva Boyaca

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At 177 kilometers (110 miles) from the Colombian capital, Villa de Leyva conserves in its architectural heritage more than 4 0 0 years of history. Its sabrosura is among its oíd houses, cobbled streets and the widest plaza in the country, mixed with the rhythm of desert landscapes that surround this town of the department of Boyaca. It is a very attractive scenario for those who seek to make part, for a few moments, of the national past.

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Guadalajara de Buga, Valle del Cauca

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Buga, part of our sabrosura is the influence of so many cultures, including the Catholic religión, a fact that makes this city one of the most representative of religious tourism in Colombia. It’s the home of the Basílica of the Lord of Miracles. This sanctuary was named with the title of Basílica in 1937 by Pope Pius XI because of the numerous miracles and the volume of pilgrims who visit it. In addition, in this place is located the statue of the Most Holy Redeemer.

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Santa Cruz de Lorica

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Santa Cruz de Lorica is rich ¡n natural resources, cultural diversity and constructions with a republican style that reflects the economic splendor of other times. Find out what an original vueltiao hat is like, explore the art of this national heritage and the pride of Colombians. The hats are manufactured in the town of Tuchin, a place of Zenu Indigenous settlements. Learn what elements are required for its preparation. Get to know the public market, declared a national monument in 1996 and of cultural interest in the year 2000. Its ocher and red colors, its high ceilings, its round equidistant columns, its four open facades, its characters, its dishes, its handicraft stalls and the bulks of different grains that exude a particular smell, having the Sinu River as a background, give it a unique ¡dentity.

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Honda, Tolima

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One of the many things to see in Colombia is Honda, Tolima. This traditional Colombian heritage town is on the banks of the Magdalena River, which is why river fishing plays such a vital role in the lives of its people.

Here we share some of the top tourism destinations in the town, which is known as “the city of bridges”. If you want to know more about Colombian culture and historical places, Honda is one of the best places to visit in Colombia.

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Guaduas Cundinamarca

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In Guaduas, 71 miles northwest of Bogota, you can follow in the footsteps of Policarpa Salavarrieta, a local heroine who gave her life for Colombia’s independence. Travelers will appreciate the historical importance of this town that was a resting point on the Kings Road between Santa Fe and Honda during the Colony. The town is part of the Colombian Network of People and Heritage.

You can visit House of the Second Botanical Expedition: The House of the Second Botanical Expedition, a colonial building dating back to the eighteenth century, was put into service in 1983 as a space in which one could pay tribute to the Botanical Expedition which José Celestino Mutis began in 1783. In the patio, some of the species identified by the Spanish scientist (born in Cadiz) can be seen, as well as the ficus or rubber tree from Cartagena.

Capira Stone: The Magdalena River valley and the snowcapped Ruiz, Tolima, and Santa Isabel peaks are visible from Capira Stone. This is Guaduas’ main viewpoint, located at the end of the Kings Road, which connected the town to Honda during colonial times. This important route was used by the Botanical Expedition and also by troops in the time of the Wars of Independence.

Policarpa Salavarrieta House: Two bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen, and a patio make up the house where Policarpa Salavarrieta lived. She helped spread ideas of independence and was shot in Santa Fe (now Bogotá) on November 14, 1817 by Spanish troops. Her house in Guaduas is now a museum, where you can see objects like mills, basins, spoons, and jars dating from the eighteenth century.

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Jerico Antioquia

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With the May 2013 canonization of Mother Laura Montoya Upegui, who was born in Jericó in 1874, the name of this town in southwestern Antioquia has been heard all around Colombia. The publicity given to this Colombian Heritage Village is also justified by its mountains and many traditions, such as the manufacturing of the Antioquia carriel, a leather handbag emblematic of the region.

Travelers who want to explore local culture can visit carriel workshops in Jericó. This leather bag, one of the symbols of the department of Antioquia, is distinctive for its many pockets, some of them secret. It was once widely used by farmers to carry valuables as they roamed the mountains.

A half-mile-long cable car ride connects the hill of El Salvador, also called the hill of Christ the King, with the hill of Las Nubes. From the cable car’s comfortable cabins, passengers can enjoy panoramic views of the town and the surrounding mountains, where different shades of green emerge in the sunlight as the day wears on.

Entering the house where Holy Mother Laura Montoya Upegui was born on May 26, 1874 is an unforgettable experience for thousands of believers. They travel to Jericó to follow in the footsteps of this educator and religious figure who worked for indigenous communities in the Urabá jungle. Here you can see, among other things, the baptismal front in which she was baptized and several family pictures.

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La Playa de Belén

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Located 200 km north-west of Cúcuta, Bethlehem Beach with an average temperature of 21°C, is part of the Colombian National Heritage Network of Towns Declared a National Monument in 2005 the historic centre of this town in Norte de Santander has stone its streets and its colonial houses with mud tiled roofs still conserve their white walls.

A place which tells part of the history of Colombia is Ocaña, which lies 25 km west of Bethlehem Beach. Travellers Can Visit the Temple and Clusters of San Francisco, which hosted the Constitutional Convention of 1828 which sought to modify the Cúcuta Constitution 1821. This Building Was Declared a National Monument in 1973.

You may follow the origins of this town when entering the Temple of Saint Joseph of Bethlehem in the historic centre of Bethlehem Beach. The same place where the church was built in 1939 is the foundation place of the town on 4 December 1862 with the solemn blessing of the 1st church around which various houses were built.

Rock formations stimulate the imagination as any jigsaw puzzle to discover animal figures, people and objects that have been sculpted along thousands of years by erosion from water and wind. This is the landscape that greets visitors toLos Estoraques Unique Nature Reserve which covers 640.62 acres in Bethlehem Beach.

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Socorro Santander

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To understand how the first steps towards the Independence of the Republic were taken, you must visit Socorro, a municipality in the Department of Santander, located 75 miles south of Bucaramanga. Founded on June 16, 1683, it is famous because of its colonial architecture and because it was the epicenter of the Revolución de los Comuneros in 1781. It has an average temperature of 74°F.

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Monguí Boyaca

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As you travel through the rolling landscape of Boyaca, with its fields of potatoes, peas, beans and carrots you will eventually arrive at Monguí. This town is part of the Network of Heritage Towns of Colombia, where visitors can stroll along cobblestone streets and colonial houses. Founded on December 31, 1601, Monguí is also known for its football manufacturing.

The most important religious building in Monguí the main church and convent – called the Basilica of Our Lady of Monguí, built in stone between 1694 and 1760. The Romanesque style masonry temple houses the image of the Virgin bearing the town’s name and some works by the painter Gregorio Vasquez de Arce y Ceballos.

The masonry, made from a mixture of lime, sand, molasses and beef blood, gave the name to the famous bridge that crosses the El Morro river. This work of engineering was built in the seventeenth century and reflects the colonial era in central Colombia. The stones used for the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Monguí were transported across this bridge.

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Cienaga Magdalena

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Gabriel García Márquez’s brand of magical realism was inspired partly by Ciénaga, a town in the department of Magdalena, which is part of the Colombian Network of People’s Heritage. Located on the Caribbean Sea, near the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Ciénaga is notable for the diversity of its landscapes and its well-preserved architecture.

Ciénaga was an indigenous village when it was catechized by Fray Tomás Ortiz in 1529. Since then it has been instrumental in the development of the Colombian Caribbean, as evidenced in is its historic center, which was declared a National Cultural Heritage Site in 1996. Here you can learn about banana cultivation, bathe in hot springs, and participate in a festival honoring the caimán (a small crocodile).

What to do in Ciénaga: Walk through the historic center of Ciénaga and you’ll notice the town’s splendor, owed in part to the extensive surrounding banana plantations. You can also visit nearby stilt villages in the area.

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Tours & Tickets in Colombia

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GUIA DE VIAJE DE COLOMBIA – COLOMBIA TRAVEL

 

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Travel Guide of Colombia: Colombia Travel Guide – Amazonas – Antioquia – Arauca – Atlántico – Bolivar – Boyacá – Caldas – Caquetá – Casanare – Cauca – Cesar – Chocó – Córdoba – Cundinamarca – Guanía – Guaviare – Huila – La Guajira – Magdalena – Meta – Nariño – Norte de Santander – Putumayo – Quindio – Risaralda – San Andrés y Providencia – Santander – Sucre – Tolima – Valle del Cauca – Vaupés – Vichada