Primatial Cathedral

In front of you rises the Primatial Cathedral of Colombia. It looks calm and solid, but the plot it stands on has seen collapses, earthquakes and a much-travelled tomb.

1Four cathedrals on one site

According to the chronicles, on 6 August 1538 Friar Domingo de las Casas said the first Mass here, in a chapel of wattle, daub and thatch. Some chroniclers added that the foundations were laid where the Muisca made their offerings, something that has never been confirmed.

The second church fared worse: in 1560, on the eve of its consecration, its roof caved in. The third, begun in 1572, was so badly damaged by the earthquake of 1785 that it was pulled down. The present one is the work of the Capuchin friar Domingo de Petrés, who began it in 1807. He died in 1811 and the cathedral was finished in 1823.

2The wandering founder

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, founder of Santafé, died in Mariquita in 1579, after leading, as an old man, one last expedition in search of El Dorado. His remains reached Santafé in 1597, passed through La Veracruz and ended up beneath the chancel of this cathedral. They were exhumed in 1890 and, after further moves, since 1938, the city's fourth centenary, they have rested in a chapel of the cathedral, in a tomb carved by Luis Alberto Acuña.

In his will, Quesada asked for an inscription: «Expectamus resurrectionem mortuorum», «We await the resurrection of the dead».

The remains of Antonio Nariño lie in the same chapel.

3What to look for

• The two towers, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1827; the northern one has a clock.
• The marble tablet above the main door, with the year 1814 and Petrés's name.
• The Sagrario Chapel, to the right, from the late 17th century.