Panorámica de Villa de Leyva
photo by Mario Carvajal

Villa de Leyva is a charming old colonial city in Boyaca in Colombia. Calm and tranquil on weekdays, it gets flooded by tourists from Bogotá on the weekends. Villa de Leyva is one of the few towns in Colombia that conserved all its colonial architecture. It is located 150 km north from Bogotá and has a nice dry and warm weather, although it gets windy and cold in the evening.

Understand

Villa de Leyva was founded on June 12th 1572, by Captain Hernan Suárez de Villalobos, as instructed by the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada Sr. Andres Díaz Venero de Leyva. Initially Villa de Leyva was established close to the Indian Astronomic Observatory in a place called Zaquencipá Valley, and then twelve years later was moved to its actual location. During the colonisation, Villa de Leyva was a principal producer of oil olive and some cereals, especially wheat and barley. It was chosen as a favorite place for Spanish families and especially as place to rest for viceroys.

Villa de Leyva was home of the Captain Antonio Ricaurte, a hero in the San Mateo battle during the war of independence. The General and President of the New Republic Antonio Nariño spent his last days in this town. In 1812 there was the meeting of the first congress of the United Provinces. In 1830 the construction of the road to connect Villa de Leyva with Tunja which passed by Arcabuco began. The construction of this road started the development of this beautiful village. In 1954 Villa de Leyva was declared a National Monument.

The architecture of Villa de Leyva has a Spanish style. You can see in the construction of most of the houses in the village, their wonderful balconies, arcs and main doors (it is possible to appreciate this in the old buildings such as Casa del Primer Congreso, Casa de Don Antonio Narioño, Casa de La Real Fabrica de Licores, Claustro de San Agustín). Villa de Leyva is a place of inspiration to poets and writers. They can find peace in its stone paved streets or just contemplating the majestic main square, unique in Latin-America.

Villa de Leyva is located at 2.143 meters above sea level, with a lovely temperature of 18oC and a population of 12.000 inhabitants.

History

Villa de Leyva was founded on June 12th 1572, by Captain Hernan Suárez de Villalobos, as instructed by the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada Sr. Andres Díaz Venero de Leyva. Initially Villa de Leyva was established close to the Indian Astronomic Observatory in a place called Zaquencipá Valley, and then twelve years later was moved to its actual location. During the colonisation, Villa de Leyva was a principal producer of oil olive and some cereals, especially wheat and barley. It was chosen as a favorite place for Spanish families and especially as place to rest for viceroys.

Villa de Leyva was home of the Captain Antonio Ricaurte, a hero in the San Mateo battle during the war of independence. The General and President of the New Republic Antonio Nariño spent his last days in this town. In 1812 there was the meeting of the first congress of the United Provinces. In 1830 the construction of the road to connect Villa de Leyva with Tunja which passed by Arcabuco began. The construction of this road started the development of this beautiful village. In 1954 Villa de Leyva was declared a National Monument.

The architecture of Villa de Leyva has a Spanish style. You can see in the construction of most of the houses in the village, their wonderful balconies, arcs and main doors (it is possible to appreciate this in the old buildings such as Casa del Primer Congreso, Casa de Don Antonio Narioño, Casa de La Real Fabrica de Licores, Claustro de San Agustín). Villa de Leyva is a place of inspiration to poets and writers. They can find peace in its stone paved streets or just contemplating the majestic main square, unique in Latin-America.

Villa de Leyva is located at 2.143 meters above sea level, with a lovely temperature of 18oC and a population of 12.000 inhabitants. Its size is 128 km2. Villa de Leyva’s borders are: Arcabuco and Gachantiva in the north, Sachica and Chíquiza to the south, Chíquiza and San Pedro de Iguaque to the east and Santa Sofia, Sutamarchan and Gachantiva to the west.

The Iguaque’s Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna is an ecological reserve (6.700 hectares). It is home to a great variety of native species and is a part of the National Parks Unit. The reserve goes from 2.800 to 3.800 meters above sea level, and it is possible to see different kinds of ecosystems like the Andean high jungle, and the Stunted Jungle which reaches the majestic Moor called Paramo. Apart from these reasons, The Iguaque Sanctuary is also a very important reserve of water for the entire region. Also, it has eight glacier lakes, one of which contains the origins of the Bachue legend.

A variety of fossils have been found around Villa de Leyva. These have been deemed important because of their sizes and their very relevant contributions made to paleontological investigations. Found in 1945, The Plesiosaurus is more than 115 million years old, and is part of the National Geological Museum’s collection. It is also the finding place of The Ichtyosaurus, a marine reptile that lived between 110 and 115 million years ago, which is 8 meters long and without a tail, and is very similar to another similar specimen found in Australia. These discoveries show that Villa de Leyva was emersed by the sea before the Andes Mountains were formed.

In agreeance with the Muisca’s mythology, the Iguaque lake legend says that a beautiful woman called Bachue, walked out from the lake with a boy of three years of age (Iguaque). They were the origin of the most important Indian tribe in Colombia called the Muisca. Anthropologic research says that the Muisca civilization was a very clever tribe, especially for their knowledge of agriculture, pottery and astronomy. The evidence of this is possible to see in the ‘Infiernito’ (the little hell) well known as the Muisca Astronomic Observatory.

More Informations

Getting there

  • From Tunja : minibuses leave every ten minutes. (1 hour / 5,500 COP / 39 km)

  • From Bogotá : buses leave twice a day (4:40 am and 2:40 pm) and the travel time is of about 4 hours. ( 180 km)

  • From Chiquinquira To reach the main plaza, take a right when you exit the terminal and head on that street (Cra.9) for a couple blocks.

Traveling around

Villa de Leyva is small enough to be covered on foot.

See

There are a handful of museums in town. Not all of them are impressive.

  • Museo Paleontológica, Open : Tu-Sa 9am-12am & 2pm-5pm / Su and holidays 9am-3pm, A collection of fossils.

  • Luis Alberto Acuña, 732 0422, Open : M-Su 9am-6pm, Carrera 10 No. 12-83, Located in a corner of the central square, Pictures and sculptures collected by this painter.

  • Prehistorical garden, 732 0214, Open : M-Su 9am-6pm

  • Museo del Carmen, Open : Sa, Su and holidays 10am-1pm & 2pm-5pm, Plazuela del Carmen, Impressive collection of religious art.

  • Antonio Ricaurte, 732 0252, Open: W-F 9am-12am & 2pm-5pm / Sa, Su and holidays 9am-12pm & 2pm-6pm, Calle 15 No. 8-17, Military museum in the former house of Antonio Ricaurte

  • Casa Museo Antonio Nariño, 732 0342, Open : Th-Tu 9am-12am & 2pm-4pm, Carrera 9 No. 10-39, Last house of this independence hero. Displays some of his possessions.

Things to do

  • Climb up to the mirador named "sagrado corazon". It's east of the town on the hillside. To find the path, first head towards the mountain on Calle 12 until you reach the white gateway. Go around it and cross the football pitch. Start climbing through the forest and follow the white arrows. The climb to the top is steep with some portions on rocks and lasts around one hour.

  • Taxis offer trips to some of the surrounding attractions.

  • Tourism agencies offer day trips to the surrounding attractions, bike and horses rentals as well as extreme sports activities (canyoning, paragliding, speleology, rappeling..). Most are located on Carrera 9 between the terminal and the main plaza :

  • Guias & Travesias, 732 0742 / 311 461 1298, 732 0742 / 311 461 1298, Cra 9 11-02

  • Natural Sports, 311 850 8324 / 310 275 1368, 311 850 8324 / 310 275 1368

  • Zona Tours, 311 207 3600 / 316 412 2070 / 312 538 7863, 311 207 3600 / 316 412 2070 / 312 538 7863, Cra 9 9-27

Eat

  • Gallina criolla

  • Panaderia Francesa, Closed : Tu and W, Calle 10 No 9-41, Tasty french bread and postres.

  • Tartas y Tortas de la Villa, Closed : Wednesday, Cr 10 #11-39, Two blocks from the main plaza, walking along the street opposite to the church., The best coffee and desserts in town.

Sleep

Prices rise on weekends and holidays.

  • Dino's restaurant & pizzeria, 8-732-0803, Plaza Mayor, Next to the Parish church, Rents out double rooms for COP$ 15.000 per person.

  • Hospederia La Villa, 732-0848, Calle 12 No 10-11, SW corner of the Plaza Mayor, Great location at a cheap price.

  • Duruelo Hotel , (0987) 320-222, Straight up from Plaza Mayor, on hillside overlooking town, Nice Spanish Colonial Hotel with many amenities. The rooms are cascading up the hillside surrounded by beautiful flowers and landscaping. The upper terraces require climbing many stairs. 4 pools, spa, gymnasium, jacuzzi, restaurants with room service and wireless internet. Has many local tours available. Horseback riding, Mountain bikes, Mini golf and more.

  • Zona de camping, 311 5507 687, corner of Calle 10 and Carrera 10, Grass field surrounded by walls. Showers and toilets on site.

Buy

  • Supermarkets SCOOMEXAOC and Don Manuel are both located on Cra 9 between Calle 9 and 10.

Get out

Around Villa de Leyva are several attraction which can be visited as a day trip :

  • El Fosíl, Open : M-Su 7am-6pm, About 5.5km on the road to Santa Sofía, Nearly complete fossil of a chronosaur.

  • Granja de avestruces, On the road to Santa Sofia, turn left 15 m before El Fosíl, Ostrich farm.

  • El Infernito, About 7.5 kilometers down the road to Santa Sofía, A Muisca Indian astronomy observatory and a collection giant phallus statues.

  • Pinturas & petroglifos, Around 10km down the road to Santa Sofía. The site is hard to find on your own., Rock paintings and petroglyphs.

  • Convento Santo Ecco Homo, Open M-Su 9am-6pm, About 16km down the road to Santa Sofía, Monastery founded in 1620 now open to the public.

  • Raquira, Village famous for its pottery. With the souvenir shops it's a bit artificial. Bus connections are infrequent and schedules tend to change if there aren't enough people.

  • La Candelaria desert, About 7 km east of Raquira.

  • Santuario de flora y fauna Iguaque, Open : 8 am to 6 pm, Natural Sanctuary which is home to Laguna Iguaque and several other lagunas at an altitude of 3600m. Buses drop you off about 3km from the entrance. From there to Laguna Iguaque and back takes about 7 hours. At the entrance there is a hotel, camping area and restaurant. Bring warm clothes.

  • La Periquera, 15 Km from town, on the way to Arcabuco, A camping site known for its 7 waterfalls. The walking track does a loop, first going down along the successive waterfalls and then coming back up along the mountain edge. Rappel down the waterfalls possible.

    • Pozo Azules, 4 km from town, 3 blue coloured lakes.

Contact & location

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The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:

Mario Carvajal, adrimcm, momentcaptured1, Guillermo Vasquez, Juana Camacho

Some photos courtesy of: . The photos provided by Flickr are under the copyright of their owners.

This travel guide also includes text from Wikitravel articles, all available at WikitravelView full credits

David, Peter Fitzgerald, Ann and Todd VerBeek, Raphaelchay, WindHorse, Jonboy and Ronald

This travel guide also includes text from Wikipedia articles, all available at WikipediaView full credits

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