A Papal History of Bogotá

The ruins of the Archbishop's Palace in 1948, after the Bogotazo riots.

The Museo de Bogotá, located on Calle 10 between Carreras 3 and 4, has an exposition about the two previous papal visits: Pablo VI in 1968 and John Paul II in 1986. The city carried out some urban projects related to the visits, in particular a neighborhood built for Pablo near Simon Bolivar Park, which still carries his name. These are documented in the exhibit. But the real interest are the historic photos of central Bogotá sites.

Papal paraphenalia. Religious consumerism isn't new.

Plaza Bolivar in 1868.

Another view of Plaza Bolivar in 1868: A cattle pasture?

Plaza Bolivar around 1930.

Pope Pablo VI.

The interior of the Cabildo Eclesiastico.

And, to see Bogotanos' present-day Catholic fervor, take a look at the crowds still lining up in Plaza Bolivar today to see the image of the Virgen of Chiquinquira:

Waiting around. It's a long, long, line.

Pope Francis waves 'hi.'

Religious trinkets haven't gone out of style.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Evening in Los Martires

The Los Martires neighborhood, located a few blocks west of La Candelaria, is a run-down, hardscrabble area, but retains a sort of weathered charm. Once, perhaps close to a century ago, the residents were rich, and their stately homes remain, now converted into grain shops, hardware stores and welding shops.

The area should be a historical monument. On its plaza, the Spanish colonialists executed Colombian patriots. But today that same plaza is roamed by drug addicts from the nearby alley known as El Bronx.

A salesman on a bike pedals down an unpaved street.

A house, once grand, now a hardware store.

Pedicabs delivering passengers.

The Iglesia del Voto Nacional, built after the Thousand Days War in gratitude for a peace which did not last.

Bar games for sale on a sidewalk. The silver objects are disks for playing tejo.

A homeless man searches thru a corner garbage pile. Such is Bogotá recycling.

Soldiers stand guard by the obelisk memorializing Colombia's martyrs.

By the plaza, a spontaneous flea market appears every day, offering products scrounged from the garbage or perhaps stolen. 

Tools on the sidewalk.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Where Those Cars Went to Die

I discovered these old cars the other day in a small parking lot located a few blocks west of the Casa de Nariño, in a neighborhood which the government wants to turn into ministry buildings, but whose residents and business owners are fighting to remain. I guess the fact that these vehicles have been taking up space here for years, perhaps for decades, suggests that the area is being under-exploited in an economic sense. On the other hand, they do add a sort of beauty to the place.

The many millions of dedicated readers of this blog will know that I don't like cars, for their impacts on society and the environment. These cars, at least, have stopped polluting - the air, anyway. (They're probably leaching metals and chemicals into the soil.) But their presence here years or decades after they stopped moving demonstrates how cars continue occupying space long after they're any social use has ended.Th

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The Evocative Photos of Ramón Giovanni

Portrait of a man in Bogotá.

Bogotá's Museo de Arte Moderno is hosting an exhibition by Cuban-born photographer Ramón Giovanni, an architect by training who lived his first years in Cuba and Mexico. Most of the exhibition's images are of Colombia, others of Cuba and even north Africa. His work strikes me as evocative and expressive. The photos suggest to me the stories of the people and places.

An uncharacteristic scene of Bogotá.

In Candelaria, Valle Department.

A family in La Chamba, Tolima.

The Sahara Desert, Morocco.

A man in San Andres Island, Colombia.

San Onofre, Sucre Department, Colombia.

Tuquerres, Nariño Department, Colombia.

Wayúu men, La Guajira, Colombia.

An old man and old cars, Cuba.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours