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The area around Villa de Leyva is well-known for its fossils of sea creatures. Some buildings and churches even used them in their construction. Millions of years ago, these creatures dominated the shallow sea that covered much of Colombia. There are two interesting sites for visitors to check out if interested in paleontology.
Fossil Museum
The Fossil Museum (Museo El Fósil) started it all. In 1977, a local farmer discovered the most complete fossil of a kronosaurus ever found in the world. In order to prevent international organizations from taking the specimen, the locals built a museum around it and live off the proceeds to this day.
The area around the museum has been built up to include a restaurant, souvenir shops, and art exhibitions. We didn’t bother to visit any of those places and focused on the fossil instead.
Adult admission to see the fossil is COP$20,000 (as of July 2023). The museum is open daily from 9am to 6pm. We bought our tickets and waited a few minutes for the guide to give us a lecture. It took about 30 minutes and was in Spanish only.
The guide started at the fossil of the kronosaurus, which measured a spectacular 12 meters in length. She gave details about the animal, how it lived, what it ate, and how this specimen was found.
From there, we moved on to glass display cases featuring hundreds of fossils found in the area. One of the most important was a nearly complete ichthyosaur. Fossilized fish and shellfish made up the rest of the creatures.
Before exiting the museum, the guide showed us several fossilized plants.
To be honest, the guide wasn’t really necessary. Much of the information she gave us could be found on a panel near the kronosaurus. Simply looking at the smaller creatures and fossilized plants was enough as well. I would have been happy to walk through the museum in 10 minutes on my own rather than wait for the guide.
CIP
The second place to visit is the Paleontological Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas), also known as CIP. This is a Smithsonian-affiliated professional laboratory and museum housing fossils found in the area.
Adult admission is COP$18,000 for a short guided tour of the museum (as of May 2023) and it’s open daily. It’s possible to get a tour in English with advance notice, and brochures covering everything on the tour are printed in both English and Spanish.
The very knowledgeable guide shows visitors around the exhibition, which includes fossils found in the area and other parts of Colombia.
Among the most important fossils are the largest fossilized prehistoric sea turtle ever found and a nearly complete plesiosaur.
Visitors are able to peek into the laboratory where preparation is being performed on fossils. For an extra fee, you can participate in a simulated excavation or create your own fossil.
Before leaving the museum, we had a chance to see some prehistoric insects stuck in amber.
Parrilla El Pino
If you want to grab a delicious meal in between visiting the museums, Parrilla El Pino is located across the street from CIP. They serve a platter of grilled meats including longaniza from Sutamarchán as well as an amazing ajiaco.
Getting There
To get to the Fossil Museum and CIP, you can hop on a bus headed from Villa de Leyva to Santa Sofía. They pass the area roughly every hour. Ask the driver to let you off at CIP, where you can take a short walk to the Fossil Museum.
