Torre Colpatria

The tower was completed in 1979 at 196 metres over fifty floors and was the tallest building in Colombia until BD Bacata in Bogota passed it in 2016. The roof terrace is open to the public on weekends and public holidays and gives an all-round view of the city in its bowl - the eastern hills with Monserrate above, the grid running west across the savanna, and the sheer extent of a city of some eight million. In 1998 a lighting system was installed on the facade and it has been developed since into a programmable array of LEDs, so the building changes colour and pattern nightly and is used to mark events and campaigns. Wind on the open terrace is strong and the visit is brief.

What you actually see

• A terrace at 196 metres - open weekends and holidays only.
• The city in its bowl - hills east, savanna west.
• A programmable LED facade - changing colour nightly.
• Colombia's tallest building for decades - until 2016.

When to go

Weekends and public holidays only; clear mornings for the view. An hour.

Honest expectations

It opens only at weekends and on holidays - a weekday visit is wasted. Cloud and drizzle obscure the view often. The terrace is exposed and windy. The visit is short.

Nearby

The Gold Museum is south; Monserrate is east.