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The plaza of Monguí, one of Colombia’s Heritage Towns (Pueblos Patrimonio), is also one of the most beautiful in the country. It’s a wide open space paved with bricks and surrounded by several colonial buildings.
Monuments
In the center of the plaza are a few monuments. One is dedicated to the football manufacturing industry, which is very important to Monguí. In fact, you can find several stores selling handmade footballs both on the plaza and around town. The Football Museum is one store that also chronicles the town’s history of football manufacturing.
A second monument is dedicated to the town’s coal miners. There’s also a fountain in the corner of the plaza featuring Muisca symbols. The indigenous Muisca people inhabited the area before the Spaniards arrived and founded the town in 1601.
Our Lady of Monguí
The centerpiece of the plaza is the gorgeous colonial church, Our Lady of Monguí (Nuestra Señora de Monguí). It was built between 1694 and 1760 and is considered an architectural landmark.
It’s possible to visit the main part of the church whenever it’s open. If you’d like to see more, free tours of the sections closed to the public are possible on Saturdays and Sundays at 10am, noon, 2pm, and 5pm. They begin at the blue door to the left of the church.
Other Buildings
The rest of the buildings on the plaza are made up of hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, and a school. On the day we visited, the townspeople were having a party to redecorate the town hall (alcaldía).
