San Antonio Park and Botero's birds

In front of you is a place of remembrance. Before you walk up to the birds, it is worth knowing what happened here.

1The night of 10 June 1995

The square was created in the 1990s to revive a run-down part of downtown. That Saturday night a public event was under way, with music and a craft market. Someone had placed a charge of about ten kilos of dynamite next to the sculpture The Bird, by Fernando Botero. The explosion killed 23 people, among them several children, and injured around two hundred.

Those responsible were never identified. Different armed groups and drug-trafficking networks were named, but none of those theories was ever proved. The victims were local residents, families and street vendors who had come out to enjoy a festive evening.

2Keeping the wound visible

Botero agreed to replace the sculpture on one condition: that the destroyed bird stay here, just as the bomb left it. In 2000 a new bird was installed beside it, which the city calls the Bird of Peace.

One remembers what happened; the other, what the city decided to become afterwards.

Behind them, San Antonio church, built between 1884 and 1902 and later remodelled, has the largest dome in Medellín. The area is busy: come by day, keep your phone away and respect the meaning of the place.

3What to look for

• The wounded bird, its bronze torn open by the blast.
• The plaque on the pedestal that remembers the victims.
• San Antonio's dome, to the west of the esplanade.