Villa de Leyva city - Boyacá

Distance from Bogotá: 177Km.
Altitude: 2.145 m.
Economy: tourism, agriculture and cattle farming

Villa de Leyva is a Colombian municipality in Boyacá. It was founded in June 1, 1572, and declared national monument in 1954. It is one of the most beautiful colonial cities and best conserved, since has colonial style and pleasant weather, a privilefed zone for nature and history lovers.The colonial republican architecture is still intact and represents the most important architectonic samples of that epoch.

The surroundig landscapes of Villa de Leyva are the most beautiful, where you will find different natural environments from desert to impressive mountains with exotic vegetation and the geological richness, making this place the perfect place to rest.

The places to visit are: Iguaque lagoon, Zaquencipá´s Observatory, the Ruins of Monquirá Church, the Parlamient, San Agustín Convent, La Candelaria´s Monastery, Ecco Homo Convent and the urban zone in the municipality; they win the hearth of visitors and invite them to return in order to visit once more, since Villa de Leyva´s beauty is always growing.

How to arrive

There are two ways to arrive to Villa de Leyva: by Tunja or Chiquinquirá. The first route goes along Boyacá´s capital and then you have to turn to Chiquinquirá and from there you will arrive to Villa de Leyva. In the second option, you have to take Chía-Cajicá-Zipaquirá route and arriving to Chinquiquirá (The route is farther but has less traffic)

Tourist attractions in the city

Parish Church

It is located in the main square. It was built in 1604, built with stone and brick, has two large windows with semi-circular arch. In the transept, there are two beauty altars with carved and gold-plated altarpieces. It has baroque colonial style.

Main Square

It is considered the biggest square of Colombia, covers 14.000 m² and is cobbled. In the middle, there is a font named “Holy Altar”, and stone steps at the corner.

Nariño´s House

It was built in 1600; Antonio Nariño, the Independence author, chose this place for having his last days, where he died in December 13, 1823.

Palaeontology Museum

It is located in El Molino de Osada big house, last century construction. In the museum there are exhibitions of fossils, invertebrates as ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, and vertebrates as marine saurians and fish, also plants fossil remains.

El Carmen Museum

It is situated at the south-west of El Carmen small square, has a great number of religious art works wich date back to XVII and XX centuries. It was founded in 1645 by Carmelitas Fathers.

Tourist Attractions

Archaeological Park of Monquirá

It is known as “El infiernito”; located 5Km. from Villa de Leyva in Boyacá department. Inside, there are 30 columns of phallic stones and more than one hundred small columns that were built 2200 years ago.

Some anthropologists believe that this place was destined to worship and fertility rituals, others think it was astronomical observatory. Nowadays, there are many researches about the stone columns´ origin and purpose.

El Cárcamo

It is located 9 Km. away by Santa Sofía highway. It is known as “Moulin´s Ranch”, where the General Juan José Naira was born in December 23, 1793.

Cueva de la Fábrica (Factory´s Cave)

It is located 20Km away by Santa Sofía highway. It is a natural cave formed by a subterranean river, the perfect place to practice espeology. It conserves several stalactites because is a litlle humid and some small bats live inside.

El Hayal

It is a spectacular place where there is a gigantic cave (150 metres high) with more than 25-meters-high waterfalls; has a small cave and is located 6 Km away by Santa Sofía Moniquirá.

El Paso del Ángel

On the mountain top, there is a-20cms-tunnel, between two abysses, one side is 150 metres and the other one is 60 meters wide. It is located 5Km away from Santa Sofía – Moniquirá highway.

La Periquera´s Waterfall

La Periquirera´s Waterfall is natural wonder, is 15metres long, whose bed makes his way towards other spectacular waterfalls. It is 14Km away by Gachantiva highway.

Villa de Leyva´s Desert

Villa de Leyva´s desert is the perfect place to practice motocross, mountain biking, you can also find fossils that belong to prehistoric epoch.

Cave paintings

On the left shores of Sáchica River, there is one of the best native paintings in the Chibcha territory.

Fossil Museum

Villa de Leyva surrounding area is plentiful of fossils. The Fossil Museum was founded in 1977, exhibits the kronosaurus -found in excellent state of conservation- and Mezosoic and Cretacic fossils collection on Monquirá vereda (Villa de Leyva municipality). The kronosaurus was a predatory sea reptile; there are only two samples of its specie in the world, this one and the second one is in Australia. It is estimated that it lived 120 years ago and length 20 meters.

The Moniquirá inhabitants’ didn´t grant their consent for moving the fossil to a specialized museum. Thus, there were built a small construction in order to exhibit the fossil where was founded.

Cultural Events

Kites´ Festival

It is carried out in August; in the festival you will apreciate a lot of kites, many participants as Quintan family, Tundaza and other kiters.

The public is gathered in the main square, where different kind of kites -the strangest ones- fly. There are competences clasified in categories as: deltas, three-dimensionals, enormous, team kite fly and miniature kites fly.

Villa de Leyva´s sky is plenty of colors with variety of kites. Many tourists and and kite´s enthusiast go to this event. The square is plenty where the most expected categories compete like individual fly, far fly, giant kites and flying kites in groups.

Festival of Lights

The festival of Lights is the most important event in Villa de Leyva, after Kite´s Festival. There is a fireworks competition where the most experts participate.

The night called “de velitas” on December in Villa de Leyva is a wonderful spectacle, admired by more than one thousand people. The best gunpowder´s expertes of the region are gathered. The color´s workfires at nigh in Villa de Leyva are the best among its colonial streets.

The city is prepared to welcome tourist who arrive to this event in order to enjoy the great spectacle that gunpowders´experts show.