This museum occupies a one-time Jesuit college and traces the evolution of how religious and portrait art pieces are made, particularly by Colombia's favorite baroque artist, Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos (1638–1711). It reopened in 2017 after an extensive, three-year renovation and now features five permanent galleries.
Museo Colonial
Bogotá
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.42 MILES
Bogotá's most famous museum and one of the most fascinating in South America, the Gold Museum contains more than 55,000 pieces of gold and other materials…
0.14 MILES
Even if you've never heard of Fernando Botero, you'll probably recognize some of his highly distinctive paintings of oversized (read: chubby) characters,…
0.39 MILES
Built between 1557 and 1621, the Church of San Francisco is Bogotá's oldest surviving church. In the atmospherically dark interior, with its extravagant…
29.33 MILES
Zipaquirá's stunning Catedral de Sal, 190m underground, was carved by removing 250,000 tons of salt; the resulting space is cinematically lit and packs a…
0.11 MILES
The usual place to start discovering Bogotá is the giant concrete Plaza de Bolívar, the heart of the original town. What it lacks in green foliage it…
0.12 MILES
Most of Banco de la República's permanent art collection, which features 800 pieces by 250 different artists spread over 16 exhibition halls at two…
0.18 MILES
On the south side of Plaza de Bolívar, beyond the Capitolio Nacional and reached via Carreras 8 or 7, this is Colombia's neoclassical presidential…
1.38 MILES
Housed in the expansive, Greek-cross-shaped building called El Panóptico (designed as a prison by English architect Thomas Reed in 1874), the Museo…
Nearby Bogotá attractions
0.02 MILES
The Jesuits began this iconic church in 1610 and, although opened for worship in 1635, it was not completed until their expulsion in 1767. It was the…
0.05 MILES
The Teatro Colón, with its adorable Italian-style facade, has had various names since its birth in 1792; this latest version opened as Teatro Nacional in…
0.05 MILES
This colossal edifice has seen a few lives, notably as the presidential HQ of Simón Bolívar, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt here in 1828…
0.07 MILES
This small baroque cathedral has more to see than its bigger brother next door, the Catedral Primada, including six large paintings by Gregorio Vásquez.
0.09 MILES
This neoclassical cathedral stands on the site where the first Mass may have been celebrated after Bogotá was founded in 1538 (some historians argue that…
0.09 MILES
On the southern side of the plaza stands this neoclassical seat of congress. It was begun in 1847 but, due to numerous political uprisings, not completed…
0.1 MILES
This two-floor museum is run by military guys in fatigues, and features playful models sporting the history of military uniforms (note the 'antiterrorist'…
8. Centro Cultural Gabriel García Márquez
0.1 MILES
Slotting seamlessly into historic Candelaria, this cleverly constructed arts center anchored by a graceful amphitheater was designed by Franco-Colombian…