Manizales

Manizales was founded in 1849 by Antioquian settlers moving south and it is built along a narrow ridge with the ground falling steeply on both sides, which is why the streets run in one direction and the buildings step down the slopes. Fires destroyed much of the centre in the 1920s, and the rebuilding produced the cathedral - a Gothic-revival design executed in reinforced concrete, then a new material, with a spire around 106 metres; a walkway inside the structure climbs through the roof and up the tower with the concrete ribs alongside. The city sits below the Nevado del Ruiz and the Los Nevados park, with thermal springs at Otoño and Tierra Viva. It holds a January feria with bullfighting, which is contested.

History

Settlers from Antioquia founded Manizales on 12 October 1849, and by 1905, when the department of Caldas was created, it was the second city of Antioquia and became the new department's capital. Fires in 1922, 1925 and 1926 destroyed much of the city and its old cathedral, and between 1930 and 1940 it was rebuilt, with the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, designed by the French architect Julien Auguste Polti, as its main symbol; an aerial cableway linked the city with Mariquita, its main station, La Camelia, built by the New Zealand engineer James Ferguson Lindsay (Spanish Wikipedia, Manizales).

What's there

• A city along a knife-edge ridge - streets running one way, buildings stepping down.
• A concrete Gothic cathedral - with a walkway up inside the spire.
• Los Nevados above - the volcanic park and Nevado del Ruiz.
• Thermal springs below the city - fed by the volcanic system.

When to go

Year round; it is often wet and misty. A full day.

Before you go

Cloud and drizzle are frequent - views of the volcanoes are not reliable. The tower climb is exposed and not for anyone uneasy with heights. Streets are very steep. The January feria includes bullfighting, which many visitors will want to avoid.

Nearby

Los Nevados is east; Salamina is north.

Key facts