Year of Antonio Nariño

Ahora O Nunca! Las ideas son para divulgar!-  Now or Never! Ideas are to share! 

This isn't quite our usual type of post. This is neither a review or a history highlight but rather I wanted to bring attention to an event occurring in Bogota, Colombia. The national library located in the heart of La Candelaria district (see our previous posts on this area here) and is aimed towards increasing literacy and education among Colombian youth. There are still to this day many parts of Colombia were education is hard to access and higher education is almost impossible. With most universities and libraries located in large cities, rural areas are severally under served. 

The National Library has decided for the anniversary of Antonio Nariño's birth they would dedicate the entire year to improving literacy and access to educational services for Colombian children in need. Who is Antonio Nariño? He is an intellectual who penned many of the important documents and writings that inspired revolution in New Granada. He lived and worked with many of the other important figures in the Colombian Revolution such as Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Santander. Unlike Bolivar, Nariño was not a soldier nor did he have any interest in the physical aspect of revolution. Nariño was a man dedicated to intellectual pursuits and sparking a revolution through ideas. He would be responsible for hosting many of the revolutionary figures to discuss the need for independence and distributing copies of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man," which he had translated from French to Spanish. These pamphlets are considered instrumental in swaying the public towards revolution and they would also be the reason for his eventual imprisonment and exile. After traveling throughout Europe, Nariño would return to his home country, a country now independent of all Spanish control. After his death, to memorialize Nariño, the eventual presidential palace of Colombia would be named in his honor. 

The National Library chose Nariño because of what he symbolized to the nation during its early years. He demonstrated the power of information and ideas to a tyrannical power. The National Library also brought in street artists, Toxicómano, Erre and Lesivoto, to create the posters promoting the program. These posters reflect urban life in Colombia and the power of youth in changing their nation. The posters declare "Now or Never! Ideas are meant to be shared," and re-imagine Nariño as a tattooed punk revolutionary. He stands as an inspiration to youth who want to change their country for the better and promote the use of education to achieve those goals. These posters are now on display at the National Library for the duration of the year. These type of events do not seem that important for some living in countries where literacy is taken for granted, but there are still large gaps in access to education throughout the world. In Colombia, it has taken time for this gap to close and is still in that process. But with the violent years of the 1980's and 1990's now behind them, the nation is able to focus resources on problems that were ignored for years. It  demonstrates the nation's value of education and it's efforts to make education a universal right for all Colombia children. 

Guatavita and El Dorado

The trip that I had been most excited for since I got our plane tickets was this one. It is the origin of the myth that almost everyone is familiar with, El Dorado. El Dorado, or the Golden One, was the idea that brought Spanish conquistadors to the Americas. It drove them violently mad and fueled their cross continent treks to find the sacred site and claim it for the Spanish crown. As one would expect, the myth was more a creation of Spaniards than it was of the natives. The tiny grain of truth in the myth was massively embellished and misconstrued by greedy Europeans looking for what they believed to be rightfully theirs.

This lake is so far up in the mountains the climate is
actually different than the base. 

About an hours drive from Bogota and through a badly maintained dirt road you will reach the Guatavita Park. The drive and early morning start is worth the trip. Entry to the park includes a guided tour to the top of the lake which lasts about an hour and a half. On the way to the top you will learn about the culture of the Muisca including their agriculture, their religious practices, their political structure and other interesting aspects about this not so well known culture. It is important to note here the importance of gold to the Muisca, which is why I recommend visiting the Gold Museum prior to visiting Guatavita. Although the tour includes a visit to a reconstructed ceremonial house with photos of typical gold offerings, it is much better to see them in person at the museum to better understand the quantity and beauty of these offerings.

The connection between "El Dorado" and Guatavita goes back to the earliest days of Spanish conquest and exploration of the Americas. Nobody is sure where the original reference can be found but rumors of a bath of gold began to circulate among the Spanish. Stories of a place so innundated with gold that the locals were bathing in the precious metal caught the imagination of Spaniards looking to enrich themselves and their nation. The stories grew and turned into a tale of a city of gold, where the inhabitants wore, bathed in, ate out of, and used for every other purpose the fantastic amount of gold available in the Americas. The truth of "El Dorado" is found somewhere within these rumors.

As we begun to ascend the mountain, our tour guide stopped to explain a rather deep pass in the mountain called "El Dolor de los Muisca" or the Pain of the Muisca. Committed by Spanish conquistadors looking for gold, it is evidence of just how deep they were in gold mania. When the Spanish arrived to what is now Colombia, they were always looking for the alleged city of "El Dorado." Following rumors and information obtain from the indigienous populations, the Spaniards found their way to Guatavita. The reality of this "city of gold" was different than the gold platted metropolis they had imagined. Guatavita was a lake, high up in the mountains, that held ceremonial and religious importance. It was here were new village leaders would be trained and prepared to lead ceremonies in which the leader would be dressed in gold and descend into the lake water where he would initiate the gold offerings to the gods. This "bathing" of gold may have been what sparked the rumors of gold baths by the Spanish. After the "cacique" or leader, finished offering his gold adornments to the gods, the rest of the village would begin throwing their offerings over their shoulders into the lake.

The current day pueblo of Guatavita that is definitely worth
visiting once you make it back down the mountain.

The Spanish were insistent in their efforts to "reclaim" the gold in the lake and began a process of draining the lake with buckets. After three months of labor and little results, the Spanish gave up on this manner of claiming the gold. Their next idea would give the ravine its name. Using enslaved natives, the Spanish began a project of breaking part of the mountain to drain the lake. The Muisca people were forced to demolish and desecrate their honored lake and pathway to their gods. Draining the lake resulted in thousands of pounds of precious gold and emeralds being removed from the lake. Despite finding thousands of pounds, the Spanish wanted more. The construction of the ravine continued for decades.

Moving forward to the nineteenth and twentieth century, the lake was once again the subject of foriegn attempts to remove its riches. German and English mining companies offered to help Colombia excavate the lake for archaeological and hydrological purposes. This time using underground tunnels to find objects closer to the center of the lake, German and English explorers found even more gold and rare emeralds (Colombian emeralds are considered some of the finest in the world). Still using the cleared land area that the Spanish had created hundreds of years before, the mining expeditions would come to a sudden end. As our tour guide liked to remind us, the earth remembers and recovers. That ravine, once a sign of pain and exploitation, would become the site of a major rock slide.

It was an amazing experience to see where the gold that Colombia is famous for came from and the heartbreaking history of its exploitation during the Conquest. If you can survive the drive and the hike, I highly recommend it. It gives you a totally new appreciation for the Muisca way of life and the meaning of gold in Colombian history.

Salto de Tequendama

Beautiful and abandoned, the Hotel de Tequendama has been
 the source of urban legends and reported hauntings for years. 

After the exhausting trip to Boyaca, we decided to sleep in the next day and plan for a less demanding adventure. One location that I had been thinking about for months but had never really considered visiting was the allegedly haunted Salto de Tequendama. Located an hour south of Bogota, the abandoned hotel and its neighboring waterfall sit alone high in the mountains. The hotel, which began its life as a mansion for the wealthy visitors disembarking from the train that would run right past the building, now sits in ruin with the majority of the building off limits for safety reasons. However, the hotel is now getting new life thrown into its halls. With interest from ecological groups, its locating next to the Rio de Bogota is perfect for the hotel's new life as a research center. 

The waterfalls of Tequendama have a history that originates with the native population of the area, the Muisca. Their legends says that the waterfall was created by Muisca hero Bochica when he responded to the cries on the inhabitants of the savanna of Bogota who were suffering from an extreme flood. Bochica came to the savanna, and with his staff broke a piece of the mountain allowed the flood waters to drain away and created the waterfall.

1895: Bogotanos enjoying Tequendama in a family outing.

In more recent history, the waterfalls and the surrounding area became a popular tourist destination for the natural beauty and the natural resources found in the mountains. In 1923, construction began on what was then called the Mansion of Tequendama. Designed by architect Carlos Arturo Tapias, it was meant to welcome wealthy guests traveling by train to Bogota. By the 1950's the mansion was converted into a hotel. However, contamination in the river created an unpleasant and fowl odor. In addition to the abandonment of the train through to Bogota, these factors resulted in the hotel's abandonment in the 1990's. 

However, the hotel would not easily be forgotten. Its beauty and location would be seen by motorists traveling on the highway that passes along side the hotel. The hotel also gained a different reputation from its early glitzy and glamorous heyday. The beautiful waterfall that guests used to admire became the location of a number of suicides. An abandoned hotel and multiple suicides gave the area a reputation for being haunted and sightings of ghosts became common. 

Even without the ghosts, the hotel and the water falls have
an ethereal and timeless feel about them. 

Ironically, the very odor and contamination that drove visitors out of Tequendama is now drawing new attention to the area. Researchers from both Colombian and French organizations purchased the building and are repairing it to serve as a research headquarters. Concern for contamination has reached a critical level because of the ways it is affected fishing and water sources for the rest of Colombia. Today, the group is saving the hotel and providing tours of the third floor of the hotel (the only safe level for the public) that explains the history of the building and the mission of the ecological researchers. Your ticket fee goes towards continuing the buildings restoration and allows you the best view from inside the house. I highly recommend paying the 4 thousand pesos for this unique opportunity to step inside this magnificent house. Be forewarned, the group is aware of the area's haunted reputation and does not allow photos while inside the hotel. They are committed to re branding the hotel. 

An unexpected adventure during our trip, I genuinely enjoyed this low key opportunity to see the Salto de Tequendama. Although this might not be your first stop when visiting Bogota, I recommend taking the relatively short drive to see it if you find yourself with a spare day with nothing to do. Its a great escape from the city and is something completely different from the small pueblos that litter the area outside Bogota. Something different and unexpected, its one of the many hidden historical gems Colombia has to offer to those willing to look. 

A Day in Zipaquira

The entrance to the park with the salt deposit mountain behind. 

Our second stop was an hour north of Bogota day trip to the national wonder Zipaquira. The small town, that has grown exponentially in the past 10 years, is similar in style to many small colonial town that make up the countryside. However, the reason national and international tourists flock to this site is to visit the magnificent salt mines, the second largest salt deposit of the country. This mine is unique. Inside its depths lies a hand carved cathedral.

The cathedral of Zipaquira began originally as a way for Colombian mine workers to attend weekly mass without leaving the mines. The patron saint of the mines, La Virgen de Guasca, is named after the indigenous word for tunnel or mind. This mine was in operation long before the conquistadors reached South America. In fact, the first group to take advantage of the large salt deposit was the Muisca. Using clay pots, they collected water from the mountain, then heated them to evaporate the water which would leave the remaining salt in a dry block at the bottom of the pot. Salt, valued higher than gold, was used as currency by the Muisca and other tribes.

The Miner's chapel before the grand salt cathedral. 

When the Spanish arrived in the New World, they soon discovered the treasure of Zipaquira. They also wanted the valuable resource the mine provided but would extract it in far more violent way. Indigenous populations were enslaved and forced to mine the mountain for the Spanish crown. As history progressed, mining of the mountain continued but was done by voluntary and fairly employed workers rather than slaves. In the twentieth century, mining became technologically driven and utilized dynamite and then hydraulic methods.

The mine's church had humble beginnings. Originally, a way for devout Catholic miners to attend mass while working underground in order to ask for protection, the mine grew into an elaborate tribute to the Catholic faith. The original salt cathedral was opened to the public in 1954. It consisted of three naves and a cross, all mined out of salt. Due to structural concerns, this mine was closed to the public in 1990. However, construction on another salt cathedral would soon begin. In 1995, the new cathedral opened which is the one standing today.

On the path of the Stations of the Cross that
intersects with the active mine.

When you enter the mine you begin your decent by walking down the stations of the cross. A vital aspect of the Catholic religion, each station consists of a symbolic representation of the event described by each station. They invite visitors to meditate on the stations and understand how, for miners going to work, these stations provide comfort and hope that no danger will come to them underground. After you make your way through the stations, past the basilica inspired dome and through the choir pews, you will find your self in the miner's chapel. A modest chapel designed by the miners themselves, it is decorated with images of their patron virgin, Guasca. Her hands and face are covered in soot as a reminder of who she is there to protect. Finally, you enter the heart of the salt mine, the cathedral. The 16 meter tall cross is carved into the salt making it the tallest cross underground in the world. At this point, visitors will find themselves 180 meters underground.

The history of this mine reflects the history of the country. Despite the horrific actions taken by some trying to take advantage of what the mine had to offer, the mine now provides the country with a valuable resource financially but also a source of religious inspiration. Today tourists from around the world and the country flock to see the first wonder of Colombia. I cannot recommend visiting Zipaquira enough. Despite having visited it almost every trip I've taken to Colombia since I was a child, it still stuns me in its beauty and grandeur. Make the trip, you won't regret it!