Museo del Oro (Part 1)

Near the top of the list of must-see attractions in Bogota is the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) and for good reason.

The Museum is owned and operated by Banco de la Republica, the central bank of Colombia. They also own and operate the Luis Angel Arango Library in Bogota, one of the best research libraries in Latin America, which includes the Botero Museum here.

We ran into this concept in Ecuador of the central bank funding museums and libraries. Works for me. Share the wealth.

No expense was spared in developing the Museo del Oro, which has a fantastic building (opened in 2004) and amazing exhibits.

The name of the museum is a little misleading. What this museum is really about is the heritage of gold and other metal artifacts made by the indigenous peoples of Colombia. The museum claims to have the largest collection of pre-Hispanic gold work in the world.

This piece, a lime container, was the first one acquired by the Banco in 1939 and inspired the development of the collection.

The exhibits included information in both English and Spanish. Even a video in the museum ran twice in both languages. That was much appreciated.

This was one of the most interesting museums I have ever been to. I learned so much I didn't know before about the metal arts of Latin America and the variety and significance of these beautiful objects.

If you come to Bogota, plan to spend at least a half day at the Museo del Oro.