Chapinero, Bogotá — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Chapinero?

Churches and arenas share the map here. The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes rises over Parque de Lourdes as the locality's best-known marker, while the Our Lady of Chiquinquirá Church holds its own parish nearby, and the National Geological Museum José Royo Gómez and the Museo de Memoria de Colombia give Chapinero its museum weight. Movistar Arena Bogotá draws the crowds.

Sport fills the rest, from the Palacio de los Deportes de Bogotá to the Complejo acuático Simón Bolívar and the Centro de Alto Rendimiento.

What is the history of Chapinero?

The parish came first. Growth around the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes and its square at Parque de Lourdes pulled the settlement together as Bogotá pushed north from its colonial centre, and Chapinero passed from a separate suburb into one of the city's inner localities as the built-up area closed the gap. Carrera Séptima carried that expansion.

The museums and arenas arrived far later, layered onto a district that began as a church and a plaza.

Where is Chapinero?

Chapinero fills a band of central Bogotá north of the colonial core, with Carrera Séptima running its length and the museums and arenas spread across the flatter ground toward the Complejo acuático Simón Bolívar.