Tequendama Falls Museum, Natural history museum in El Charquito, Colombia
The Tequendama Falls Museum is a natural history museum inside a 1920s mansion on the cliff edge of Tequendama Falls in San Antonio del Tequendama, Colombia. The three-story building houses exhibition rooms with specimens, drawings, and panels about the wildlife and plants of the region around the Bogotá River.
The building was built in 1923 during the presidency of Pedro Nel Ospina as a private retreat in the mountains. From 1928 it served as a hotel for wealthy guests and remained open until the early 1990s, when it was abandoned.
The building's name comes from the Muisca language and refers to falling downward. Visitors walk through rooms displaying stone tools that show how people lived by the river before European settlers arrived.
Access is along a winding mountain road about an hour southwest of Bogotá. The rooms are spread over several levels, so plan some time for the tour and wear sturdy shoes.
The European Union provided funding to convert the abandoned luxury hotel into an environmental education center. The waterfall beside it drops over 500 feet (157 meters) into a gorge of the Bogotá River.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
