Church of San Francisco, Colonial church in La Candelaria, Colombia

The Church of San Francisco stands at the northwest corner of Avenida Jiménez and Carrera Séptima, facing the Museo del Oro TransMilenio station. Its white exterior was removed in recent decades, leaving the facade, tower and presbytery as the original historic elements. Inside, a single nave leads to the main altarpiece, built in 1623, with Renaissance elements and a mudéjar par y nudillo ceiling.

The Franciscans built the church between 1557 and 1566 on land donated by Archbishop Juan de los Barrios, on the right bank of the Vicachá River. It was enlarged between 1586 and 1611, and the main altarpiece was made in 1623. After the 1785 earthquake, Domingo Esquiaqui directed restoration work that ended on 25 March 1794, when Archbishop Baltasar Jaime Martínez Campañón consecrated the temple. The church was expropriated in 1861 by Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera until 1881, and the last restoration took place between 1988 and 1990.

Religious artworks filling the interior blend Spanish and indigenous artistic traditions from the colonial era. Visitors can see how these pieces reflect the cultural meeting between two worlds that shaped early Colombian society.

The church stands at the northwestern corner of Avenida Jiménez and Carrera Séptima, diagonally across from the Museo del Oro TransMilenio station. It opens Monday to Friday from 10am to 12pm and 3pm to 6pm, and Saturdays only from 3pm to 6pm; it is closed Sundays and national holidays. Shorts and revealing clothes are not allowed.

The convent that once stood beside the church covered two city blocks and had three two-storey cloisters. These were demolished when the Palacio de San Francisco, designed by Gastón Lelarge and Arturo Jaramillo, was built on the site in 1917. The church sacristy is the only surviving part of the convent.