Monserrate

The ridge that closes off Bogota to the east rises to about 3,150 m, and the white church on its summit has drawn pilgrims since the seventeenth century. Inside is the shrine of the Senor Caido, a much-venerated image of the fallen Christ, and the stepped path up the hillside still fills with walkers on Sundays and through Holy Week. Most visitors, though, come for what is behind them: the whole plateau city laid out below, its grid running off into haze, with the savanna beyond. Stalls behind the church sell agua de panela with cheese, tamales and hot drinks against the cold.

History

The Muisca held the mountain sacred and called it the grandmother's foot; at the June solstice the sun rises exactly behind it as seen from Plaza de Bolívar. In the 1620s the Brotherhood of the True Cross began holding celebrations on the summit, in 1650 four citizens won permission to build a hermitage there dedicated to the Black Virgin of Montserrat in Catalonia, and in 1656 Father Rojas had a crucifix and a figure of Christ carved; once taken down from the cross, the figure became known as El Señor Caído, the Fallen Lord, and by the 19th century it had replaced the Virgin at the heart of the shrine (Wikipedia, Monserrate).

What you'll find

• The sanctuary - the white church and the Senor Caido shrine at the summit.
• The city view - Bogota's grid filling the plateau, sharpest in late afternoon.
• The stepped path - the pilgrim climb from the base, busiest on Sunday mornings.
• The stalls behind the church - agua de panela, arepas and hot drinks in the cold.

When to go

Clear mornings give the sharpest view; afternoons often cloud over and the summit can sit inside the cloud with nothing to see. December to March is the driest stretch. Sunday is the pilgrimage day, when the path is open and busy from before dawn and the queues for the funicular are at their worst. Late afternoon suits photographers.

What to expect

Queues are the main complaint, and on a Sunday or public holiday the wait for the cable car can run past an hour in each direction. At 3,150 m the cold and thin air surprise people who flew in that morning. The summit is commercialised, with restaurants and souvenir stalls behind the church. On a cloudy day there is simply no view at all.

Nearby

La Candelaria lies directly at the foot of the hill.