The stone square
A broad square among white houses.
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Monguí is a small town in the cold Andes of Boyacá, part of Colombia's network of heritage towns since 2010. Its white houses with clay roofs and green doors line a broad stone square, and local people wear the traditional wool ruana against the cold. The town was founded on 1 December 1601 by Alonso Domínguez Medellín and Friar Juan Blas Redondo. The place already mattered before that, as the chapel of San Antonio and the Calicanto bridge show. It prospered in the seventeenth century on farming and forestry, and from that time come the Franciscan convent and the basilica, both national monuments. Its name may refer to the plentiful water, in the Muisca language. Walking is the whole visit here. You cross the stone-paved square, which slopes gently toward the church and convent in dark red stone. Then you follow lanes climbing between the white houses and go down to the old stone Calicanto bridge. From the hill above, the roofs press together under the mountains. In the early morning, mist sometimes fills the valley. The town is 9.5 km in a straight line east of Sogamoso, with local transport from there. It is cold, with an average of 13 °C and lows of 8 °C, so bring a warm jacket. Guided walks to the high land above the town are offered, so ask in the square. The church is a place of worship, so dress modestly.
A broad square among white houses.
An old stone bridge below the town.
The town pressed under the mountains.
Sugamuxi Province, Boyacá department
Yes, the town is small and half a day covers the square, lanes and bridge, longer if you add a mountain walk.
Warm clothes, as the average is 13 °C and nights are cold, even after a sunny day.