Arcos vegetales en el jardín de la Quinta de Bolívar

The Quinta de Bolivar is a colonial house in Bogota, Colombia, that served as a residence to

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

in the capital after the war of independence. It is now used as a museum dedicated to Bolivar's life and times.

History

The history of the house goes back to the late 17th century when the land was sold by the chaplain of

Monserrate Monserrate (named after Catalan homonym mountain ''Montserrat'') is a high mountain over 10,000 feet high that dominates the city center of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. It rises to above the sea level, where there is a church (built in ...

to Jose Antonio Portocarreño, a Spanish merchant, who built a country house there. After his death his heirs could not maintain the property and it had seriously deteriorated by the time the newly independent government bought it and gave it to Bolivar as a sign of gratitude for his role in the war of independence. The house was restored for his use and between 1820 and 1830 Bolivar stayed there for a short time whenever he visited Bogota. After Bolivar had to abandon the capital, he gave the house to his friend Jose Ignacio Paris. Later the house changed hands several times and throughout the 19th century it was used for the most diverse purposes: it was a health house, a brewery, a tannery and a girls school. Finally in 1919, when the property was again up for sale, the Colombian Historic Society and the Embellishment Society of Bogota began a national fund-raising campaign in order to buy it. After it had been purchased as a national monument, it became a museum with artifacts from the independence times including objects belonging to Simon Bolivar. It is also used as a venue for diplomatic and cultural events. Several important restoration projects have taken place in both the house and gardens and some infrastructure work has been undertaken to adapt the property to its current function. On January 17, 1974, in a symbolic act, Álvaro Fayad, a co-founder of the guerrilla movement M-19 stole Bolivar's sword leaving behind a note that began, "Bolivar, your sword returns to the battlefield." On January 31, 1991, Antonio Navarro, a leader of the M-19, returned the sword as part of the group's peace negotiations with the government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinta de Bolivar Simón Bolívar Spanish Colonial architecture Museums in Bogotá Biographical museums in South America