Villa de Leyva

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 at 2.143 meters above sea level, with a lovely temperature of 18 °C 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 Ichthyosaurus, a marine reptile that lived between 110 and 115 million years ago, which is 8 m long and without a tail, and is very similar to another similar specimen found in Australia. These discoveries show that Villa de Leyva was immersed by the sea before the Andes Mountains were formed.
In agreement 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.

• From Tunja: minibuses leave every ten minutes. (1 hour, COP$7000, 39 km)
• From Bogotá: minibuses leave hourly in the morning and mid-afternoon. Los Libertadores bus line has luxury buses that leave twice a day (4:40AM and 2:40PM). The travel time is about 4 hours and it costs COP$24,000 (180 km).
• From Chiquinquira: Vans leave hourly. Approximately a one-hour trip.

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

• To combine a trip to the Salt Cathedral on the way to Villa de Leyva, take a bus to Zipaquira and then take a taxi to the Cathedral. Then take a taxi to Plaza de la Riena for a minibus to Chiquinquira. The minibus is operated by Transportes Reina Agencia and the departure location is at Carrera 36, 8-532.

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

• Casa Terracota64-year-old architect Octavio Mendoza literally baked the house he lives in. He named the 5,400-ft.2 house "the biggest piece of pottery in the world". Casa Terracota was built exclusively by hand using clay and baked in the sun. The architecture, reminiscent of Gaudi's style, is interesting and it's fun to get "lost" inside.

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

• Museo PaleontológicoA collection of fossils.

• Luis Alberto Acuña

  phone: +57 732 0422
  address: Carrera 10 No. 12-83
  Pictures and sculptures collected by this painter.

• Prehistorical garden

  phone: +57 732 0214

• Museo del Carmen

  address: Plazuela del Carmen
  Impressive collection of religious art.

• Antonio Ricaurte

  phone: +57 732 0252
  address: Calle 15 No. 8-17
  Military museum in the former house of Antonio Ricaurte

• Casa Museo Antonio Nariño

  phone: +57 732 0342
  address: Carrera 9 No. 10-39
  Last house of this independence hero. Displays some of his possessions.

• Climb up to the mirador named "Sagrado Corazón". 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 on Carrera 9 between the terminal and the main plaza:

• Guias & Travesias

  phone: +57 732 0742, +57 311 461 1298
  address: Cra 9 11-02

• Natural Sports

  phone: +57 311 850 8324, +57 310 275 1368

• Zona Tours

  phone: +57 311 207 3600, +57 316 412 2070, +57 312 538 7863
  address: Cra 9 9-27

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

Gallina criolla is a typical local dish.

• Panaderia Francesa

  address: Calle 10 No 9-41
  Tasty French bread and postres.

• Portales

  address: Northwest Corner of the Plaza
  Italian food with Wi-Fi hotspot.

• Tartas y Tortas de la Villa

  address: Cr 10 #11-39
  Offers coffee and desserts.

• Some almuerzo place

  address: Calle 10, 9-41
  Daily set meals for lunch and dinner (soup, main dish and juice), with choice of chicken and meat. They supposedly do breakfasts too.

• La Galleta

  address: Carrera 9, between calle 12 & 13
  They have good tea and coffee and great cakes.

Villa de Leyva has potable tap water, feel free to drink it!

• Café de la Barra

  phone: +57 3142217226
  address: Plaza Mayor, Cra 9 No. 12- 52
  All of their coffee is 100% Colombian and prepared with a smile; the owners are a charming Colombian couple who love to chat with their customers. The location is ideal (right on the main plaza next to the bell tower), so you can sit inside the cute little coffee shop and watch people pass by on the plaza, or you can sit out back on their patio and enjoy a great view of the bell tower. They also serve tasty desserts and little sandwiches.

Prices rise on weekends and holidays.

• Dino's restaurant & pizzeria

  phone: +57 8-732-0803
  address: Plaza Mayor
  Rents out double rooms for COP$15,000 per person.

• Hospederia La Villa

  phone: +57 732-0848
  address: Calle 12 No 10-11
  Great location at a cheap price. No Internet.

• Duruelo Hotel

  phone: +57 987 320-222
  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

  phone: +57 311 5507 687
  Grass field surrounded by walls. Showers and toilets on site.

• Hostal RenacerIt is a 15-min walk outside of the city and offers therefore a nice and silent atmosphere. free wifi and kitchen, bike for rent, dorms start from COP$15,000, privates available.

• Hostal Rana

  phone: +57 311 464 2969
  address: Calle 10a No. 10 - 31,
  Dorms, spacious and clean rooms with and without ensuite. There's a good common area, wifi and you can use the outdoor kitchen to cook.

• El Solar Hostel

  phone: +57 311 832 7919
  address: Carrera 6 No. 14 - 06
  Very simple no-frills hostel. The place has a large yard and is more like camping. It has private rooms and dorms. Martha the host makes the place a warm and inviting. No hot water, and outhouse bathrooms and kitchen. A spacious lawn that some choose to camp on. Free Wifi near office.

• Hostal Sinduly

  phone: +57 8 732 0325
  address: cra 11 No 11-77
  An easy going place with relaxed atmosphere. Wifi, kitchen and garden.

• Casa de Anny

  phone: +57 313-231-9712
  Vacation villas for rent, surrounded by mountains of green and brown colors, and a collection of orchids and bromeliads.

• Mirari Glamping

  phone: +57 316 207 4971
  address: Carrera 4 # 12-51
  A cozy place with open air spaces to sit by a campfire and enjoy a panoramic view of the town. Lodging at tents with double rooms and dorms, each with bathroom. Hot water, kitchen, and a common area with cable TV and WiFi. Check at instagram.com/mirariglamping/

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

• El FósilNearly complete fossil of a chronosaur.

• Granja de avestrucesOstrich farm.

• El InfernitoA Muisca Indian astronomy observatory and a collection giant phallus statues.

• Pinturas & petroglifosRock paintings and petroglyphs.

• Convento Santo Ecco HomoMonastery founded in 1620 now open to the public.

• RaquiraVillage 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 desertAbout 7 km east of Raquira.

• Santuario de flora y fauna IguaqueNatural 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 PeriqueraA 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 Azules3 blue-coloured lakes.

• Tunja
• The city of Boyacá