Colombia · Distrito Capital de Bogotá · Bogotá
La Candelaria, Bogotá — Area Guide & Where to Stay
La Candelaria is Bogotá's colonial old town, a grid of steep streets around Plaza de Bolívar and the Primary Cathedral.
About La Candelaria
Where to stay in La Candelaria
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
La Candelaria is Bogotá's historic core. Rooms fill the colonial houses within a short walk of Plaza de Bolívar, where the Primary Cathedral and the Capilla del Sagrario face the square, while quieter guesthouses climb the lanes toward the ridge below the Monserrate Sanctuary. The Gold Museum and the Botero Museum sit near the northern edge, where the old town meets the wider city.
Where you settle in La Candelaria comes down to how lively you want the night.
About La Candelaria
What are the main landmarks in La Candelaria?
Plaza de Bolívar anchors the district. The Primary Cathedral and the Capilla del Sagrario stand along its eastern flank, and the Casa del Florero, where the events of 1810 began, holds the square's northern corner. West and downhill lie the Gold Museum, with its pre-Hispanic goldwork, and the Botero Museum, whose rounded figures fill an old colonial house.
The Church of San Francisco and the Iglesia San Ignacio mark the parish streets, while the Monserrate Sanctuary crowns the ridge above. Museums abound.
What is the history of La Candelaria?
La Candelaria holds the founding ground of Bogotá. Its grid of colonial houses grew around Plaza de Bolívar, where the Primary Cathedral and the seats of Spanish authority rose along the square through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Casa del Florero fixed the district in national memory when the demand for a broken flower vase there sparked the events of 1810 that opened the road to independence.
Museums later filled the old mansions, from the Museo Casa de Moneda, once the colonial mint, to the Claustro de San Agustín. The stones remember.
Where is La Candelaria?
La Candelaria climbs the eastern edge of central Bogotá, a compact grid of steep colonial streets that rises from Plaza de Bolívar toward the ridge below the Monserrate Sanctuary.
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More areas in Bogotá
Updated July 2026