Villa de Leyva
National Monument Of Colombia (1954). A Whitewashed Colonial Town With One Of The Largest Cobbled Plazas In The Americas, Surrounded By Fossil Beds, A Kronosaurus Skeleton And The Iguaque Mountains. · Villa de Leyva, Boyaca
Villa de Leyva is a whitewashed colonial town in the high Boyaca valley, about three to four hours by road north of Bogota, and one of the best-kept Spanish towns in Colombia. Its Plaza Mayor covers roughly 14,000 square metres of bare cobbles with no trees, a church on one side and low tiled houses on the others, and it is among the largest squares of its kind in the Americas. The town sits at about 2,100 metres in a dry, windy basin, so the sun is strong and the nights are cold. Around it are fossil beds, the Muisca stone observatory of El Infiernito, a clay house built as a work of architecture, a hilltop convent and the Iguaque mountains. On weekdays it is calm; on holiday weekends the plaza fills, prices rise and rooms sell out. Most visitors stay one or two nights and spend a day on the outlying sites by taxi, bike or tour. It is a good place to slow down: eat well, buy wool and ceramics, and watch the light change on the white walls, with the hills holding the last sun.
Colonial town in the high Boyaca valley, about 3.5 hr by road north of Bogota, centred on the large Plaza Mayor, Villa de Leyva, Boyaca, Colombia
The streets and the Plaza Mayor are open at all hours and cost nothing. Museums, the Casa de Antonio Narino and the Museo del Carmen keep daytime hours, usually from morning to late afternoon, and several close one weekday, often Monday or Tuesday, so confirm locally. The outlying sites run on their own hours and tend to close earlier than the town. Iguaque National Park opens early for walkers and limits daily numbers. Restaurants stay open into the evening, and the town is quiet after about ten at night. Workshops and craft shops open mid-morning and often close for a long lunch.