Plaza de Bolívar

Plaza de Bolívar is the main civic square of Bogotá, Colombia, set in the heart of the La Candelaria historic district at Carrera 7 and Calle 11. It was laid out in 1539 as the Plaza Mayor of the newly founded Santa Fe, when the settlement was still a cluster of thatched huts. Through the colonial period it served as market, bullring and place of public punishment; the independence heroine Policarpa Salavarrieta was shot here in 1817. The square took its present name after the bronze statue of Simón Bolívar, sculpted by the Italian Pietro Tenerani and cast in Munich, was unveiled in 1846 as the first public monument in the city. The plaza is framed by four distinct buildings that together summarise Colombian history. The Catedral Primada closes the east side, the neoclassical Capitolio Nacional runs along the south, the Palacio Liévano, a French-style city hall completed in the early 20th century, occupies the west, and the Palacio de Justicia stands on the north. The current Palace of Justice was rebuilt after the original building was destroyed in the 1985 siege by the M-19 guerrilla and the army's assault, one of the darkest episodes of the armed conflict. The square also bore the scars of the Bogotazo riots of 9 April 1948. The space is a broad paved expanse with no shade, open to pedestrians at all hours and used for official ceremonies, protests, concerts and public celebrations. Its architecture is a deliberate mix of colonial religious, republican and modern civic styles rather than a single preserved period. Visitors typically use the plaza as the starting point for exploring La Candelaria, since the Casa del Florero, the Museo Botero, the Museo del Oro and the Casa de Nariño are all within a short walk. Flocks of pigeons and street vendors selling corn and hot drinks are a regular part of the scene.