Mongui

Mongui sits at about 2,900 m on the edge of the paramo, and it is built in stone rather than adobe, which gives it a heavier and colder look than the other Boyaca towns. The Basilica of Nuestra Senora de Mongui and its Franciscan convent occupy an entire side of the square, and a small museum inside holds Spanish-era paintings, vestments and manuscripts. Below the town the Puente de Calicanto, a stone arch bridge, crosses the Rio Morro. Around the square, workshops cut and hand-stitch footballs, an industry the town has held for generations and still the thing most Colombians associate with the name.

Background

The town and municipality of Monguí lies in Boyacá Department, in Sugamuxi Province, and was founded in 1601. In 2010 it was named a Pueblo Patrimonio, a heritage town of Colombia, as one of the 11 municipalities chosen for the first group of the Red Turística de Pueblos Patrimonio, the national tourist network of heritage towns.

Source: Wikipedia, "Monguí"

What's there

• The basilica and convent - stone church and cloister filling one side of the square.
• Puente de Calicanto - the arched Spanish-era bridge over the Rio Morro.
• Football workshops - small shops cutting and stitching balls by hand.
• The paramo edge - frailejon-covered moorland rising directly behind the town.

When to go

December to March is the drier stretch, though the paramo makes its own weather and cloud can shut in at any hour. Cold matters more than season here, and evenings are cold. Weekends bring visitors from Sogamoso and Bogota. Walks up to the Oceta paramo start early, usually before seven, and are arranged the day before.

Before you go

The altitude is real, and arriving straight from the coast leaves people short of breath on the town's hills. It rains and blows. The town itself takes two hours to see, and the main reason many come, the Paramo de Oceta, is a guided full-day trek with a compulsory local guide and a fee. Food options are limited and kitchens close early.

Nearby

Sogamoso and Lake Tota are within an hour; Paipa's thermal baths lie further west.

Key facts