Villa de Leyva

Villa de Leyva, Colombia

A low-angle view down a cobbled colonial street in Villa de Leyva at sunrise, with whitewashed walls catching the early golden light.

A cobbled colonial town high in the Colombian Andes, with a large plaza, museums of fossils and religious art, and an easy pace.

The place

Villa de Leyva is a colonial town in the Boyacá highlands of central Colombia, sitting at about 2,000 metres above sea level in a valley of dry, scrubby country. The municipality has a population of about 22,000, and most visitors come to walk its streets rather than to pass through a busy city. Its appeal lies in its fabric. The valley lay away from the main trade routes and had no minerals worth mining, so development largely passed it by, and the centre keeps its old layout and houses. The streets and the broad central plaza are still laid with cobblestones, and many façades are whitewashed beneath tiled roofs and timber balconies. The plaza is the social heart of the town. Restaurants there often have musicians or singers in the evenings, and storytellers perform weekly for passers-by. Because the town is small, the stillness of early morning and the glow of late afternoon are the times when the streets feel most like they did centuries ago. Tourism is the main business now, and the bigger weekends bring crowds, so midweek visits feel calmer.

Its story

Villa de Leyva's history begins well before the Spanish arrived. The valley was settled early in the human history of the high plateau around Boyacá, and the earliest archaeological evidence comes from El Infiernito, a site linked to astronomy in the pre-colonial period. When the Spanish reached the region, the Muisca lived here, and a local ruler known as the zaque of Hunza governed the area. The Spanish founded the town in 1572 and named it after Andrés Díaz Venero de Leiva, the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada. The settlement stayed small and quiet for centuries. The town's most famous native is Antonio Ricaurte, who served as a captain under Simón Bolívar during the wars of independence. He gave his life by sacrificing himself at San Mateo, a place in present-day Venezuela. His birthplace in town became a military museum. Other figures followed. Antonio Nariño, the translator of The Rights of Man into Spanish and a strong voice for independence, spent his last years here and died in the town. The painter Luis Alberto Acuña, one of Colombia's leading artists of the twentieth century, also spent his final years in Villa de Leyva. Their presence helps explain why the town now holds so many small museums.

What to see

Culture

Villa de Leyva keeps a calendar of festivals that shows how the town spends its year. A gastronomic festival takes place in November, a jazz festival in July, and an international kite-flying festival in August. The onion beauty pageant in October is a local favourite, and the Festival of Lights arrives in early December. Musical, painting and theatre events run through much of the year. Restaurants on the plaza often host live bands, and the storytellers who perform in the square on a weekly basis are part of the town's everyday life. Cycling is a popular way to see the town and its outskirts, and many residents are used to visitors on bicycles and horses. Church life is still active, so services and processions take precedence in the older churches. When visiting the colonial churches and the monastery, keep voices low, dress modestly, and ask before photographing people at prayer or the storytellers at work.

What to wear

Traditional dress in the Boyacá highlands is practical and built for cold, wind and long days on the land. The best-known garment is the ruana, a thick woven woollen cloak worn over the shoulders and fastened at the front, which is common across the Andean highlands. Wool and cotton are the main textiles, with earthy, dark and muted colours. Campesino men traditionally wore wide-brimmed hats and sturdy trousers, and women wore full skirts and shawls. Today, many people in the town wear jeans, jackets and trainers, and the ruana is still a common sight on cold mornings and in the countryside. Visitors should dress in layers. Days in the valley can be warm and bright, but evenings are cool at this altitude, so a light jacket or a ruana from a market stall is useful. Modest clothing is appreciated when visiting churches, and sturdy shoes with good grip suit the cobbled streets and the steep path up the hill.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. January and February are the driest months in the valley, with December close behind, so expect bright days and cool nights. Midday sun is strong at this altitude, so pack a hat and sunscreen. Weekends and holidays bring the heaviest crowds.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Fly into Bogotá, then take a long-distance coach north over the mountains to Villa de Leyva. From Tunja, frequent minibuses cover the last stretch in about an hour, and vans run from Chiquinquirá.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources