Colombia Attractions

Venue: Gold Museum    When: Daily; not Mon

Bogotá's Gold Museum (Museo del Oro) houses the finest collection of pre-Colombian gold on the continent, boasting 33,000 individual pieces, from simple earrings to some of the most beautifully crafted masks and figures in the world.

Despite the extensive pillaging of pre-Colombian art by the conquistadores and the mass exportation of South American gold from the 17th to the 19th centuries, many magnificent works of art created by the region's indigenous cultures before the European invasion still remain.

Highlights include poporos of the Quimbaya culture, pectorals from the Tolima, anthropomorphic figures, masks of the Cauca and the Colombian "crown jewels", the famous Balsa Muisca.

The exhibition unfolds over three floors, offering an insight into the historical, geographical and social development of pre-Colombian cultures through stone, clay, bone, textiles and, of course, gold.

The climax of the museum is the collection housed in a huge vault on the third floor. Within this strong room is the magical Salon Dorado, where visitor access is restricted to a handful at a time. Once inside the room, prepare to be amazed at the breathtaking display featuring 8000 pieces of shimmering gold.

A visit to the Gold Museum offers an intriguing insight into cultural development and a glimpse of the power of the myth of El Dorado, the legendary city of gold that captivated the imagination and stirred the greed of European explorers for more than two centuries.