Si vas a Bogotá no puedes perderte este museo, es una visita obligada, Pertenece al Banco de la República y cuenta con una colección de aproximadamente treinta y cuatro mil piezas de oro y otras miles más entre orfebrería, textiles y piezas de cerámica encontradas en diferentes partes de Colombia y de diferentes culturas como la Calima, Los Muiscas, la Nariño, la Quimbaya, la Sinu, la Tairona, la San Agustín, etc. La colección empezó cuando el banco, en 1939 adquirió la primer pieza y la tenía en exhibición en sus instalaciones. En la década de 1940 hicieron la primera exposición (Posiblemente con la mayoría de las piezas) en la sala de juntas del banco, y sólo podían visitarla invitados especiales, y así fué creciendo la colección hasta que en 1959 decidieron abrirla al público en general. En 1968 se construyó un edificio muy bonito en forma de rectángulo con mármol mate (el cual parece estar flotando sobre vidrio) específicamente para que albergara las piezas y lo equiparon con todo lo necesario para que fuera un museo muy moderno. Cuenta con 5 salas enormes así que conviene dedicarle por lo menos 1 día completo para poder apreciar con detalle la enorme cantidad de figuras.
Estas son fotos de algunas piezas que tienen en exhibición:
If you go to Bogotá you can't miss this museum, it is a must! This museum belongs to the Bank of the Republic and it has a collection of about 35,000 of pieces of goldwork like figurines, ornaments, and such, it also has thousands of other things in display like pottery and textile archaeological. These pieces were made by several indigenous cultures from all over Colombia, cultures like: the Calima, the Muiscas, the Nariño, the Quimbaya, the Sinu, the Tairona, the San Agustin and many more. The collection started in 1939 when the bank bought one gorgeous piece and it was on display inside the building, and the collection kept on growing so in the 1940's they made a permanent exhibition in the board room and the access was only for special guests (it's believed that by that time almost the entire collection was on display) by 1959 they finally decided to open it for the general public. On 1968 the bank built a gorgeous building specially for the entire collection and made it a museum, the building has a rectangular form and is made with white matte marble and it seems like is floating over glass, is equipped with everything a modern museum needs and they also have several researching programs and conferences among other activities.
The pieces are amazing, they have tons of details so you can spend hours and hours admiring them.
Here are pictures of some of the pieces on display:
Da click sobre cualquier imagen para verla más grande.
Click on any image to enlarge
Algunas figuras representando a "Los señores felinos"
Some representations of "The feline lords"
Some representations of "The feline lords"
La sala numero 4 del museo se llama "La ofrenda" es un homenaje a los rituales que practicaban los Muiscas y simboliza el vuelo chamánico. Esta sala es muy interesante, de forma completamente circular, entras y sin aviso previo quedas completamente a oscuras por unos segundos, no sabes que va a pasar, de pronto se escuchan cánticos, empieza un juego de luces y otros sonidos bastante interesantes, se abren unos paneles y revelan las hermosas figuras de oro que cubren todas las paredes e incluso en el centro, debajo del piso hay un cristal que deja ver muchas piezas más también iluminadas de diferentes colores. Nunca había visto un espectáculo así, es hermoso, de verdad que te hace sentir como si estuvieras en medio de un ritual.
Estas son algunas fotografías que tomé:
The room number 4 of the museum is called: "The offering room" is a homage to the rituals the Muiscas used to have and it represents the chamanic flight. This room is very interesting, has a circular shape, you enter and suddenly the lights go out and you are in a complete darkness for a few seconds and don't know what's going to happen, but then you start to hear some canticle, a show of different lights appears and more interesting sounds, the walls open revealing tons of gorgeous pieces made out of gold all over the walls and even on the center of the room, in the floor you can see a large circular crystal with a lot of beautiful pieces underneath the floor, which also are illuminated by different colors.
I had never seen anything like it, is so beautiful and it really makes you feel like you are in the middle of a chamanic ritual.
Here are some pictures I took:
Estas son algunas fotografías que tomé:
The room number 4 of the museum is called: "The offering room" is a homage to the rituals the Muiscas used to have and it represents the chamanic flight. This room is very interesting, has a circular shape, you enter and suddenly the lights go out and you are in a complete darkness for a few seconds and don't know what's going to happen, but then you start to hear some canticle, a show of different lights appears and more interesting sounds, the walls open revealing tons of gorgeous pieces made out of gold all over the walls and even on the center of the room, in the floor you can see a large circular crystal with a lot of beautiful pieces underneath the floor, which also are illuminated by different colors.
I had never seen anything like it, is so beautiful and it really makes you feel like you are in the middle of a chamanic ritual.
Here are some pictures I took:
Una de las piezas más importantes de la colección es la llamada "Balsa Muisca" se cree que representa la leyenda de El Dorado, en donde, elegían a un hombre y lo sometían a varias pruebas muy duras durante varios dias, en el último dia le cubrian el cuerpo completamente con polvo dorado y lo subían a una balsa acompañado de varios sacerdotes, navegaban hasta el centro de la laguna de Guatavita en donde el candidato a cacique se lanzaba al agua y mientras los sacerdotes arrojaban piezas de oro y esmeraldas al agua, cuando minutos después salía la persona a la superficie era reconocido como el nuevo gobernante puesto que había sido aprobado por los dioses.
La primera figura de este tipo se encontró fue en 1856 en las lagunas de Siecha y la llamaron la balsa de Siecha la compró un coleccionista privado quien después la vendió al Museo Real de Berlín, en ese entonces en Colombia no había ninguna ley que protegiera a las piezas arqueológicas, así que la sacaron legalmente del país, y la pieza logró llegar hasta Alemania, pero el barco en el que la transportaban se incendió y la pieza se perdió.
La primera figura de este tipo se encontró fue en 1856 en las lagunas de Siecha y la llamaron la balsa de Siecha la compró un coleccionista privado quien después la vendió al Museo Real de Berlín, en ese entonces en Colombia no había ninguna ley que protegiera a las piezas arqueológicas, así que la sacaron legalmente del país, y la pieza logró llegar hasta Alemania, pero el barco en el que la transportaban se incendió y la pieza se perdió.
En 1969 tres campesinos encontraron por casualidad dentro de una cueva una vasija de barro decorada con forma humana la cual tiene dientes afilados y dentro de la vasija estaba otra balsa, que es la que está en exhibición en la actualidad, afortunadamente cuando la encontraron la cuidaron muy bien hasta que el Museo del Oro la compró y siempre la ha mantenido en sus intalaciones bien protegida.
One of the most important pieces of the collection is called "Balsa Muisca" (Muiscan raft) and is believed that it represents the El Dorado legend in which it says that a selected man was put in very difficult tests for days, and on the last day they covered all his body in a mixture of some kind of sticky material and gold in dust, then they put him in a raft and taken to the center of the Guatavita lagoon accompanied by some priests. Then this man had to jump into the water and stayed inside for several minutes while the priests threw pieces and jewelry made by gold and emeralds as a gift to the gods. When the man came out of the water it was recognized as the new leader of the Muisca tribe.
The first golden Muisca raft was found in 1856 in the Siecha lagoon and was called "The Siecha raft" it was bought by a private collector who later sold it to the Royal museum of Berlin, back then in Colombia there were no laws to protect archaeological pieces, so this piece was taken legally out of the country; The piece made all the way to Germany, but then the ship that was transporting it went on fire and the piece was lost.
On 1969 three peasants found a clay vessel by a chance inside of a cave, it was decorated with human figures and had a mouth with very sharp teeth, they were surprised to see that inside the vessel was another gold raft, And is the one that is on display now. Fortunately when they found it was kept it safe until the Museum of gold bought it, and it has been well protected since then.
One of the most important pieces of the collection is called "Balsa Muisca" (Muiscan raft) and is believed that it represents the El Dorado legend in which it says that a selected man was put in very difficult tests for days, and on the last day they covered all his body in a mixture of some kind of sticky material and gold in dust, then they put him in a raft and taken to the center of the Guatavita lagoon accompanied by some priests. Then this man had to jump into the water and stayed inside for several minutes while the priests threw pieces and jewelry made by gold and emeralds as a gift to the gods. When the man came out of the water it was recognized as the new leader of the Muisca tribe.
The first golden Muisca raft was found in 1856 in the Siecha lagoon and was called "The Siecha raft" it was bought by a private collector who later sold it to the Royal museum of Berlin, back then in Colombia there were no laws to protect archaeological pieces, so this piece was taken legally out of the country; The piece made all the way to Germany, but then the ship that was transporting it went on fire and the piece was lost.
On 1969 three peasants found a clay vessel by a chance inside of a cave, it was decorated with human figures and had a mouth with very sharp teeth, they were surprised to see that inside the vessel was another gold raft, And is the one that is on display now. Fortunately when they found it was kept it safe until the Museum of gold bought it, and it has been well protected since then.
A cada museo que voy me gusta echar un vistazo a la tienda de regalos porque venden cosas muy interesantes, pero en particular siempre busco algún libro que contenga fotografías e información de la exposición permanente del museo, ya que es imposible que en una o dos visitas pueda leer todo lo que tengan. En este caso compré este libro que esta bastante bien, ampliamente explicado y con muchísima información, si no recuerdo mal lo venden también en inglés.
Every time I visit a museum I like to take a look into the gift shop because they sell very interesting things. But in particular I always look for a book of the permanent exhibition from the museum, cause I think is impossible to read all the info they have in one visit or two (specially if it's a big museum) So this time I bought a great book, it has lots of information and if I recall well they also have it in English.
Si planeas ir a Bogotá y quieres mas información sobre este museo, aqui el link de su página oficial:
If you are planning to visit Bogotá and want more information about this museum here's their official site:
http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-del-oro
http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-del-oro
Recomendaciones: El museo se encuentra en el centro, es un lugar bastante concurrido, hay mucha gente tanto en el museo como en la calle, armate de mucha paciencia si vas a tomar un taxi, es algo complicado y a veces los taxistas no te quieren llevar si vas muy lejos, sobre todo si esta lloviendo se complica todavia mas; te puede tomar hasta casi hora y media encontrar uno libre. Asi que si no consigues no te desesperes, hay un baresito muy simpatico y muy comodo que se encuentra a 1 cuadra del museo, dentro del hotel Continental sobre Avenida Jiménez # 4-16 puedes tomarte una piña colada o una margarita (deliciosas, por cierto) o cualquier bebida que se te antoje acompañada de una botana mientras esperas que baje el flujo de carros y te puedas ir.
Some tips: The museum is in the downtown area so is always crowded, not only from the museum but also there's a lot of people in the street, so get tons and tons of patience and keep that in mind when you look for a cab if you are spending all day and reach rush hour there, if it's raining gets even more difficult, sometimes the taxi driver won't take you to your destination if it's too far. So, what you can do is walk a couple of blocks to Intercontinental hotel, on Avenida Jiménez # 4-16 at their bar you can have a piña colada, a margarita or any drink you want, the place is great, very comfortable and you can wait there until the streets clear out and you can finally get a taxi. I did that, and was very lucky because they were giving a free drink to people just to go and check the place out, so I asked for a piña colada and let me tell you: It was delicious.
