Popayan known as the “White City of Colombia” for its whitewashed colonial style architecture and beautiful churches is a lovely city to visit without many tourists which is close to a great national park and many outdoor activities. This 484 year old town is one of south America’s oldest and best preserved town’s and as it was the seat of rule of Spain, the flavor of Spain is still strong in many areas.
It is easy to explore the historic part of the town where the main sites are and there are a number of museums, shops and restaurants to see and sample.
Popayan Historic District
Park Caldas is the heart of the historic center. It is a small park with beautiful trees and a statue of the Francisco Jose de Caldas who fought for Colombia’s independence from Spain. This is surrounded by pedestrian plazas with street performers, food carts and a few llama’s for photos. There are a number of banks and ATM’s also if you need money.
Across from the park is Catedral Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion de Popayan known more simply in the City as the “La Catedral” and a 17th Century clock tower adjacent to it.
About three blocks from Park Caldas you can find Puente Del Humiladero, the former entrance to the town, a cute 240 meter, 11 arch stone bridge built in 1873 with great views. At the entrance to the bridge there were a number of vendors with tents selling crafts and clothes.
Museums
There are a number of good museums concentrated in the historic district.
At the entrance to the Puente Del Humiladero bridge you will find the National Museum Guillermo Valencia, the 18th century home of poet Guillermo Valencia (whose son became president of Colombia). Its interesting to see a large traditional hacienda and the old furniture and learn some of the history of the poet, his family and Colombia along with the artwork he collected.
Please note this is not open to just walk around, you have to take one of the four daily guided tours so check the schedule if you want to go. The entrance and tour is free.
In my opinion, the best museum is the Religious Art Museum which has two floors of excellent paintings and statues all of religious symbolism of course, again in a large hacienda style building with a courtyard.
Other museums of worth are the Negret Museum and the Museum of Modern Art of the Iberoamericano (which are next to each other) which shows the work of modernist sculpture Edgar Negret and Negrets private art collection with works of many Latin American artists and Picasso. There is also a Museum of Natural History with a collection of various taxidermied animals and birds.
Churches
There a number of churches to choose from. The most famous is the Church of San Francisco, a Baroque style church which is the largest church in Popayan and dates back to the 18th century. Famous for its gold alter and one of the largest gold and bronze bells in the bell tower. There are also some unidentified mummies which were discovered when the an earthquake happened and a crack occurred in the ossuary revealing the mummies. You can see them on a tour (or ask at the office).
Also the church of Santo Domingo, the church of San Jose and the oldest church in Popayan, the 16th Century Church La Ermita are all worth a visit and close to each other.
Morro de Tulcan & the Hill of the three crosses
On the outskirts of town is a pre-Colombian pyramid built between 1600 and 500 B.C. where a number of artifacts were discover and where it is believed the indigenous people buried the high ranking members of their society. It is now a nice park with wonderful views of the city.
From the park there is a trail to the Hill of the three crosses, about an hour and a half to get to the top to see the crosses and there are vendors selling drinks and nibbles along the way.
Purace National Park
Purace National Natural Park is an extremely scenic national park with varied landscapes in the Colombian Andes about an 1 and a half hours outside Popayan. Purace means “mountain of fire” in the indigenous language as it is in a volcanic region with an active volcano and many thermal sulphur streams.
For more information on the park see my guide at Purace National Natural Park.
Coconeu Thermal Baths
About a hour outside Popayan is an outdoor pool complex called Aguatibia Termales which has thermal baths, natural spring baths, a small lake to kayak on, a waterslide, a healing mineral mud bath, a fishing spot, a nature trail and a restaurant. Its a nice place to relax, unwind and enjoy the nature.
For more information on the Baths see my guide at Coconeu Thermal Baths.
Where to stay
The best hotel in Popayan is the Hotel Dann Monasterio which is a lovely renovated Franciscan convent from 1570 with Spanish galleries, colonial style furniture, a central courtyard with a water fountain and large balconies. But also has the modern facilities; outdoor pool, gym, good wifi, flat-screen TVs and American style breakfast on the patio.
The service was amazing and friendly, the location in the heart of the historic district is perfect and the value is great COP 258,000 (about $54 a night with breakfast include). I don’t always recommend hotels but this place was too good not to mention.
Where to eat
There are number of places around Park Caldas to eat. I can recommend La Cosesha Paradilla (Calle 4 #7-79) for Colombian food and steak and for Italian food the aptly named Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria (Calle 4 #883).
Also if take a cab out of the historic district there is a street called the “Boulevard” with a number of good modern style restaurants all next to each other.
Conclusion
Popayan is a lovely town to relax and explore. There are not many tourists so it retains its authenticity. I would recommend about two to three days to see the City and then an extra day each to go see Purace National Park and the Coconeu Thermal Baths. The closest large city is Cali which is about a 3 hour car ride (only COP 400,000 in a taxi) or 4 hour bus ride (about COP 38,000) along a good highway. I hope you get the opportunity to experience Popayan, if you do please let us know about it and if you have any questions, of course feel free to ask. Hope you have a great trip.
An off the beaten path recommendation is GOLD! TY!
Glad you enjoyed, I heard of great city called Pereira in Colombia, will go and review soon