Museo Colonial

The Museo Colonial at Carrera 6 No. 9-77 in La Candelaria, Bogotá, Colombia, presents art and everyday objects of the Spanish colonial period inside the former Jesuit Colegio Máximo, built in the early 17th century and used as a college until the order's expulsion in 1767. It was the first museum in Colombia devoted to the colonial era and is now managed by the national museum system. The building is a colonial cloister with a central courtyard, thick masonry walls, arcaded galleries and a tiled roof, and its restoration kept the appearance of the Jesuit college. The collection focuses on the viceregal period of the New Kingdom of Granada, and its core is the world's largest group of works by Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos, the leading painter of 17th-century Santa Fe. Other holdings include religious painting and sculpture, silver, furniture, textiles, maps and decorative arts. Some rooms are arranged as domestic interiors, so visitors can see how the elite of Santa Fe lived, while others focus on the church, education and the colonial administration. The curatorial approach is thematic within a broad chronological frame, and temporary exhibitions explore specific collections or restoration projects. The museum administers the neighbouring Iglesia Museo Santa Clara, and visitors often see both in one visit. The scale is modest and the atmosphere quiet, with shaded courtyards that give respite from the city outside. Text panels are in Spanish, and the museum runs educational programmes and guided visits by request. It lies a few minutes from the Plaza de Bolívar and next to the church of San Ignacio, which is worth seeing for its baroque interior. Admission is inexpensive, with free entry on set days.