Villa de Leyva
Encyclopedia
Villa de Leyva is a colonial town and municipality, in the Boyacá
department of Colombia
, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province
. The town is located some 40 km west of Tunja
and has a population of about 9,600 people. Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia, and was declared a National Monument on December 17, 1954 to preserve its architecture. It is located in a high altitude valley at 2,144 m altitude where fossils from the Mesozoic
and the Cretaceous
abound.
It was founded on June 12, 1572 by Hernán Suarez de Villalobos and named after the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada
, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva.
Among the main areas of interests are the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) where besides the Church, many restaurants and stores selling some handcrafted art pieces. Most of the streets around the downtown are made of stones, similar to colonial times.
Near the town itself and about a 30 minutes drive away from the main square several attractions can be found, an ostrich farm, a museum (El Fósil) and an old astronomic observatory made of phallic stones ("El Infiernito
", for "little hell" in Spanish). There is also a group of seven waterfall
s named "La Piriquera" some 15 km away from the town.
The El Fósil (Spanish
for the fossil
) museum has an almost complete kronosaurus
fossil on display, in the same place in which it was found in 1977.
Additionally, there are several festivals held throughout the year that attract international and national tourists alike. Thousands of people gather in the main plaza to celebrate the gastronomical festival, the water festival, the tree festival, etc.
One of Villa de Leyva's main attactions is the town's variety of exquisit gastronomical pleasures. Restaurants serving all kinds of international dishes can be found all over the town. Places such as Italian, French or Spanish typical food can be found in this village and are sure to please all kinds of tastes.
Boyacá Department
Boyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end...
department of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province
Ricaurte Province
The Ricaurte Province is a subregion of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The subsregion is formed by 13 municipalities.-Municipalities:...
. The town is located some 40 km west of Tunja
Tunja
Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...
and has a population of about 9,600 people. Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia, and was declared a National Monument on December 17, 1954 to preserve its architecture. It is located in a high altitude valley at 2,144 m altitude where fossils from the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
and the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
abound.
It was founded on June 12, 1572 by Hernán Suarez de Villalobos and named after the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada
New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern day Colombia and parts of Venezuela. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of...
, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva.
Among the main areas of interests are the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) where besides the Church, many restaurants and stores selling some handcrafted art pieces. Most of the streets around the downtown are made of stones, similar to colonial times.
Near the town itself and about a 30 minutes drive away from the main square several attractions can be found, an ostrich farm, a museum (El Fósil) and an old astronomic observatory made of phallic stones ("El Infiernito
El Infiernito
El Infiernito , is a pre-Columbian Muisca site located at the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá Department, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a setting of menhirs ; several burial mounds are also present...
", for "little hell" in Spanish). There is also a group of seven waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s named "La Piriquera" some 15 km away from the town.
The El Fósil (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
) museum has an almost complete kronosaurus
Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Cronus.-Discovery and species:Kronosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous Period ....
fossil on display, in the same place in which it was found in 1977.
Additionally, there are several festivals held throughout the year that attract international and national tourists alike. Thousands of people gather in the main plaza to celebrate the gastronomical festival, the water festival, the tree festival, etc.
One of Villa de Leyva's main attactions is the town's variety of exquisit gastronomical pleasures. Restaurants serving all kinds of international dishes can be found all over the town. Places such as Italian, French or Spanish typical food can be found in this village and are sure to please all kinds of tastes.
Villa de Leyva in popular culture
- Part of the film Cobra VerdeCobra VerdeCobra Verde is a 1987 German drama film based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel, The Viceroy of Ouidah. The film depicts the life of a fictional slave trader named Francisco Manoel da Silva who is played by the prolific German actor Klaus Kinski...
by Werner HerzogWerner HerzogWerner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
was filmed here.
- A Spanish-language soap operaSoap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
version of the ZorroZorroZorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
story has been filmed here, as of 2007, by the Colombian production company RTI, distributed in the United States by TelemundoTelemundoTelemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
.
- Florentino Ariza, the main character of the book and film Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez first published in the Spanish language during 1985. Alfred A. Knopf published the English translation during 1988...
spends part of his life here.
- Antonio RicaurteAntonio Ricaurte-Further reading:* FUNDACIÓN POLAR. Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela. Caracas: 1997, second edition.* ROMERO MARTÍNEZ, VINICIO. ...Y Ricaurte se inmoló en San Mateo. Caracas: Edigraph, 1973....
, Captain in Bolivar's army, active in the war of independence of Venezuela and Colombia, was born in Villa de Leyva.