Plaza Botero and the Museum of Antioquia

In front of you is Colombia's most famous open-air museum. The figures with exaggerated volumes around you are by Fernando Botero, born in Medellín in 1932.

1A fax that changed downtown

In the mid-1990s the museum, then called the Museo de Zea, was in crisis. Botero had announced a major donation to Bogotá, and the museum's director, Pilar Velilla, phoned him to ask whether he still wanted to do something for his home town. On 23 May 1997 a handwritten fax arrived: he was offering rooms of painting, sculpture and drawing, and money for the building works.

The museum moved into the old city hall, an Art Deco building opened in 1937, and a whole block of the so-called Barrio Viejo was demolished to open up the square. The renovated museum opened on 14 October 2000, and the square, with its 23 monumental sculptures, in 2001.

Botero himself drew on a plan where each sculpture should go, and wanted them at ground level, within people's reach.

People say that rubbing the sculptures brings love and good luck, which is why some parts shine more than others. It is a very busy area and not always calm: come by day and watch your belongings.

2What to look for

• The shiniest parts of the bronze, polished by thousands of hands.
• The Museum of Antioquia, the old city hall, with its Art Deco lines.
• The Palace of Culture, across the square, with its checkerboard façade.