Guadalupe Hill, Summit in Eastern Hills, Bogotá, Colombia

Guadalupe Hill is a mountain in Bogotá's Eastern Hills, crowned by a chapel and statue at its summit. The site features walking trails and roads leading upward, with views across the city from the top.

The Muisca buried their dead on this sacred hill, called quijicha guexica, "grandfather's foot". The Spanish raised a cross here, and the first hermitage was blessed on 8 September 1656. Earthquakes destroyed it in 1743, 1785 and 1826; rebuilt under Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, it fell again in 1917. Jorge Murcia Riaño rebuilt it in 1945, and Gustavo Arcila Uribe's 15-metre statue followed in 1946.

The Muisca called the hill quijicha guexica, "grandfather's foot", and buried their dead in the Eastern Hills. From Bolívar Square the December solstice sun rises over this summit. The name honours Our Lady of Guadalupe of Badajoz, not the Mexican virgin. On first Sundays of the month, masses draw pilgrims to the chapel.

You can reach the top on foot or by car, taking less than an hour depending on fitness level. Wear comfortable shoes and arrive early in the day for better light and fewer crowds.

The hill gives its name to the Guadalupe Group, a 750-metre sequence of sandstones and shales from the Late Cretaceous. Geologists come here because the Bogotá Fault has pushed these older layers on top of younger ones, so the summit exposes rock that would normally lie far below.