Colombia 2024, part 2 (Bogotá)
In the introductory part of my story about travelling in Colombia, I mentioned that Spanish conquistadors, on their path of conquest in what later became Colombia, encountered local tribes with gold objects. This ignited immense greed in the conquerors, giving rise to the legend of El Dorado, the golden city deep in the Amazon jungle.
Of course, there was gold, but far less than these ruthless conquerors expected. Many lost their lives driven by insatiable desire in their quest for El Dorado.
Today, the main repository of gold from the ancient tribes that once inhabited Colombian territory is found at the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro). It is arguably one of the best museums in the country and considered one of the finest gold museums globally, boasting the largest collection of gold artefacts – over 55,000 pieces made of gold and other materials.
That was my next destination on the tour of Bogotá that I planned for the first day. I even got an audio guide because I wanted to explore the museum thoroughly. However, I was still tired and stressed due to my luggage not arriving in Bogotá with me and also because the museum had a closed ventilation system, so I often felt short of breath. Because of this, I ended up speeding up my visit.
The audio guide was good, but there are also captions in Spanish and English next to the exhibits, so visitors can enjoy the museum quite well even without the audio guide.
The beginning of the exhibition deals with metallurgy in a general sense and various materials that were used. In fact, many objects were made from an alloy of gold and copper, with the presence of silver. This alloy is called tumbaga, characterised by thin walls and a high polish on the surfaces, and after additional processing, this alloy obtained the colour of pure gold.
The goldsmiths from the peoples who inhabited the territory now belonging to Colombia processed gold in various ways. One very beautiful item crafted in the Cauca Valley in western Colombia is visible right at the beginning. It is an exceptionally lovely seashell that was shaped by skilled artisans who placed thin sheets of gold over the shell, which deteriorated over time, leaving behind the golden imprint. This was done during the Yotoco period, from 200 BCE to 1300 CE.
Also at the beginning, you can see a crown made of high-quality gold, crafted during the same period and within the same culture.
In several places within the museum, you can see golden exhibits arranged to demonstrate how some of the items were used or worn, relative to the shadows depicting human figures.
These intricately and skilfully crafted gold objects were typically worn by chiefs and shamans during various ceremonies. When they adorned themselves with these gold items, it symbolically meant they were harnessing the creative power and authority of the Sun, thus representing on Earth the embodiment of this deity from the upper world.
The value of gold traditionally derives precisely from its association with the Sun. Ancient peoples understood that the Sun enables life, while the annual changes in its position and the intensity of sunlight, along with water, greatly influence food production, which sustains life. The yellow colour of gold reminds people of the all-powerful Sun.
Moreover, the peoples who inhabited the territory of modern-day Colombia believed in a universe composed of three worlds. Humans live in the middle world, while gods, ancestors and various supernatural beings reside in the upper world or the underworld. The upper and underworlds have opposite and complementary qualities, such as light/darkness, dryness/moisture or masculine/feminine. In the middle world, which is the human world, elements from these two extreme worlds combine.
As for the Gold Museum, one of the very common ornaments you can see are nose pendants, whether they are more elaborate covering both lips and cheeks, like the one seen in the first subsequent photograph, or simpler forms like smaller nose rings from around 110 CE, visible in the second photograph below.
Also, a very common type of exhibits are small vessels, usually with lids, called poporos, which were crafted in the shapes of human figures, birds, jaguars, or gourds and maize. An example of a poporo from the Yotoco-Malagana cultures (200 BCE - 1300 CE) can be seen in the following photograph.
Inside these vessels, a small amount of lime powder derived from burned and ground seashells was kept. This lime was extracted with special long pins and placed in the mouth while chewing coca leaves.
These pins were also made of gold or alloys, and many of them had exceptionally beautiful and skilfully crafted decorations at one end. Some of the following photographs may not be particularly successful, but they certainly illustrate the exquisite craftsmanship of the artisans who made these objects.
Needless to say, coca is not cocaine, but it certainly has its specific properties. However, traditional shamans and chiefs used in rituals seeds from the yopo tree containing some of the world’s strongest hallucinogens. This led to a “transformation” where participants in the ritual experienced not only taking on the characteristics of various animals, but also becoming those animals (such as frogs, lizards, birds, jaguars, etc.). Because of this, representations of different animals were extremely important and thus they were also crafted from gold and gold alloys, or stylised depictions of transformed shamans and chiefs were shown on breastplates worn over the chest. All of this demonstrates how central the idea of transformation was in these cultures.
During their state of transformation, shamans perceived their surroundings through the eyes of the animal they had become. In the case of jaguars, this could potentially be dangerous because they would see other jaguars as humans and the people from their community as prey.
Ornaments in the form of necklaces made from gold “claws” of jaguars further emphasised the nature of transformation.
At the museum, alongside items made from gold and gold alloys, there are also exhibits crafted from other materials. Some of these include whistles that illustrate transformation, either in the form of an animal or a mythical ancestor.
Also common are thin breastplates like the one seen in the following photograph, originating from the Yotoco-Malagana cultures (200 BCE - 1300 CE).
Or the next exhibit seen here, which originates from the Muisca and Guane cultures (from 600 CE to 1600 CE), whose members inhabited territories north of present-day Bogotá and spoke languages belonging to the same linguistic group.
Similar in shape, there is also a breastplate that illustrates an ancient legend which says that a certain number of black birds, ancient shamans, brought light to the Earth in their beaks at the beginning of time and shared the land with the first humans.
I found particularly intriguing the gold exhibits that were attached to the ends of wooden batons, although I’m not sure what purpose those batons served. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the beauty of these exceptionally well-crafted gold pieces, as well as other exhibits. All of these, which can be seen in the following photographs, originate from the northern regions of modern-day Colombia and were crafted by goldsmiths of the indigenous Zenú people (200 BCE - 1000 CE).
Within the Malagana culture (western Colombia) (300 BCE to 300 CE), the use of funerary objects made from gold and gold alloys was common, including masks that were placed over the faces of deceased individuals. Typically, several masks were placed on top of one another.
However, some of the anthropomorphic masks were crafted with much greater skill than the exhibits seen in the photos above. For instance, a mask from the well-known archaeological site Tierradentro in southwest Colombia, dating from 150 to 900 CE.
As I’ve mentioned before, the museum exhibits include items made from materials other than gold, which are equally interesting. For example, there are human heads displaying skull deformation (a relatively common practice among ancient peoples of South America), as well as various ornaments used in rituals. What is additionally intriguing is that many of these heads were found severed from bodies and then discarded as if they had been used in a ritual and were no longer needed.
Pottery were also widely represented among the indigenous peoples, beginning as early as 1600 BCE, like the following piece belonging to the Ilama culture that lasted in western Colombia until around 100 CE.
But, pottery was produced throughout the territory of present-day Colombia, while the museum also exhibits stone sculptures.
One of the beautiful ceramic exhibits is a figure believed to represent the earth as a goddess. People used it in their agricultural activities, symbolically fertilising the soil by sowing seeds.
So, there are over 55,000 exhibits at this museum, but I believe not all of them are displayed because the museum isn’t large. Of course, I wasn’t interested in seeing “everything,” of course, but on the top floor, there is a large room where they exhibit those items considered especially important and valuable. One of the famous ones is a small golden raft crafted by artisans of the Muisca people somewhere between 1295 and 1410. It is probably the most well-known exhibit at the museum, so I didn’t feel inspired to take a picture of it since there are plenty of photos of it online – just search for “Muisca raft.”
On the other hand, it was the Muisca people who had the custom where their ruler would throw small gold objects into Lake Guatavita (northeast of Bogotá) and bathe in the lake covered in gold dust to appease the goddess Guatavita, leading Spanish conquerors to create the legend of the golden city, El Dorado.
But as seen from my previous photos, it is clear that it wasn’t just the Muisca who were skilled goldsmiths. Indigenous peoples in the far north of Colombia and other parts of the country also created very intricate gold objects.
An exhibit that I found particularly interesting is another famous item made of gold, which is a poporo, a vessel used to store lime, or lime ash, which was chewed together with coca leaves.
This poporo was made sometime between 500 BCE and 700 CE in the region west of Bogotá, although it was found in the northwest of the country. It is shaped to resemble a decorative gourd and its rounded contours symbolise the female body. What makes it particularly interesting is that this was the first gold item with which in 1939 the Central Bank of Colombia, the Bank of the Republic, began to create its collection, that later led to the opening of the Gold Museum we know today.
While the museum is truly impressive, for the reasons I have mentioned earlier, I enjoyed stepping outside where the sun was shining and the air was relatively fresh. The museum is located near a beautiful, green and seemingly popular square called Santander Park (Parque Santander).
On the opposite side of the square from the museum there are two churches that are definitely worth visiting. They can be seen in the following photograph: on the left is the Veracruz Church (Iglesia de la Veracruz), while on the right is the Church of the Third Order (Iglesia de la Orden Tercera).
First, I entered the Church of the Third Order, which was built between 1761 and 1780. This small church is definitely not to be missed because it has spectacular woodcarvings. However, alas, photography inside is strictly prohibited – whether with a camera or a mobile phone – so one must go to Bogotá to see what it looks like. I’m not sure if it’s worth the plane ticket, but if you happen to be in Bogotá, this church is a must.
Right across from it, there is the Veracruz Church, named after the neighbourhood of the same name. The original church on this site was built in the 16th century but suffered damage several times in earthquakes, especially in the one of 1827. It was finally restored in the early 1960s. Among other things, it is significant because it houses the remains of about 80 independence fighters killed by the Spaniards in 1816.
Since the service was ongoing, I didn’t want to wander around the church. Instead, I took a few pictures of details near the entrance.
Between these two churches, I saw a very nice scene – two contemporary craftsmen were sitting there, each doing their job: one was drawing and the other one was repairing shoes.
Down the street there is the third church, which is the Church of Saint Francis (Iglesia de San Francisco) from the second half of the 16th century.
Before delving into the interior of the church, let me mention the street seen in the previous photo. It is Seventh Street (Carrera Séptima), which at 23.4 km in length is one of the longest streets in the world and serves as a major thoroughfare in Bogotá. However, in this part of the city known as Santa Fe, near Santander Park, Seventh Street is reserved exclusively for pedestrians and cyclists. In fact, it is intended for pedestrians since Plaza de Bolivar, the main square in La Candelaria, and continues northwards.
Because it sees a large number of people, there are various stalls along the street selling a variety of goods.
In the previous picture, you can see the entrance to the Church of Saint Francis. The church is famous for its magnificent golden altarpiece from 1623. The Spaniards certainly didn’t find Eldorado, but they did incorporate the gold they seized from the indigenous population into the temples of the new god. Today, around 87% of Colombia’s more than 50 million inhabitants identify as Christian, about 11% are atheists or have no stance on religion, and less than 2% belong to other religions, including indigenous beliefs.
After visiting this church, I stepped out onto the street, took a stroll through this part of the city, bought a wonderful mango along the way and sat down in Santander Park to eat it. I needed to gather energy to continue exploring Bogotá further.