"Bogotá" a Bogotá Travel Page by MalenaN

Bogotá is a big city with about 7.5 million inhabitants. It is situated at an altitude of almost 2600 metres which gives the city a quite cool climate with an average temperature throughout the year of 14 degrees. Sunny days the temperature can rise above 20 degrees. The most rainy months are April, May, October and November, but there can come showers all year round. When I visited it was August and the sky over Bogotá was mostly grey, but there was only a few light showers. Most of the time I used a sweater with long sleeves. It was about the same (but no rain) when I visited in July the next year.

The area around Bogotá was inhabited by the Muisca Indians when the Spaniards arrived. The Spaniards founded a town near the Muisca capital Bacatá in 1538 and this new town they called Santa Fe de Bogotá. Bogotá became the capital of the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada in 1717 and after the independence it became the capital of Gran Colombia (before that the town had been referred to as Santa Fe).

The old centre of Bogotá is Candelaria in the south where you will find many colourful colonial buildings, churches and museums. North of Avenida Jiménez is the commercial centre with shops, restaurants and offices. Further north Northern Bogotá is a modern district with shopping centres, the most expensive hotels and Zona Rosa with Bogotá’s best night life. In the east the city is bordered by a mountain range. Around the city there are also many shantytowns, especially to the south.