Palacio de San Carlos

Take a look at this mansion on Calle 10. In 1828 it was the presidential palace, and here Simón Bolívar lived through the most dangerous night of his life.

1A house with many lives

It was built around 1580 for the archdeacon Francisco Porras Mejía. In 1605 it passed to Archbishop Bartolomé Lobo Guerrero, who entrusted it to the Jesuits; it was a seminary until their expulsion in 1767. From 1777 it housed the Royal Library of Santafé. After the earthquake of 1827, the government acquired it as the president's office.

2The September night

In 1828 Bolívar was ruling with dictatorial powers and had many enemies. On the night of 25 September, a group of conspirators stormed the palace, overpowered the guard and went upstairs in search of the Liberator. Manuela Sáenz, his companion, woke him and persuaded him to escape through a window. She stayed behind to delay the attackers.

Bolívar spent part of the night hiding under a bridge over the nearby San Agustín River. The next day the plot unravelled. Several of those involved were executed, and Vice-President Francisco de Paula Santander, accused of knowing about it, was sentenced to death; the sentence was commuted to exile.

According to tradition, from then on Bolívar called Manuela «the Liberator of the Liberator».

The palace served as the seat of the presidency at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries. Since 1979 it has been occupied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3What to look for

• The Latin plaque, beside the window that tradition identifies as the one he escaped through.
• The stone façade, with its long row of windows and central doorway.
• The Colón Theatre, directly opposite, built on the site of earlier playhouses.