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Marsella is a town in the Coffee Region of Colombia and part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia. It was named after the French city of Marseille.
Plaza
The best place to start exploring Marsella is the town’s beautiful plaza. The plaza is decorated with trees and benches and has a fountain in the middle.
It’s surrounded by colorfully painted colonial architecture.
Church of the Immaculate
The beautiful Church of the Immaculate (Iglesia de la Inmaculada) sits on one end of the plaza. It’s crowned with a huge statue of Christ and has two bell towers. On either end of the church are some restaurants, shops, and cafés that are popular with locals.
Inside, it’s got several statues and a chapel on either end of the altar.
Stairway
On the corner of the plaza to the left of the church is a nicely decorated stairway. It’s one of the most scenic parts of the town.
On both sides of the stairway are very colorful colonial buildings. There are decorative lampposts at each landing.
Casa de la Cultura
At a corner of the plaza opposite the church is the Casa de la Cultura. Well known as one of the most spectacular colonial buildings in this region of Colombia, it’s a huge three story colonial building with an open courtyard in the center. It serves as a cultural and recreational center, museum, and community center. It’s open daily and free of charge.
The museum is located on the top two floors. There are several old photos of Marsella and nearby Pereira, pre-Columbian artifacts, old objects such as the first telephone in Marsella, newspaper clippings, and even a signed football jersey donated by Olympique de Marseille.
Around Town
There are a few picturesque colonial buildings you’ll spot on the streets leading up to the plaza.
Cemetery
Finally, a few blocks from the plaza is the Jesús María Estrada Cemetery (Cementerio Jesús María Estrada). It’s definitely one of the loveliest in the entire Coffee Region, if not all of Colombia. It was built in 1928 by Julio César Vélez in a Gothic and Baroque style.
The tombs were distributed in the form of stairs, and each one has a plant on top.
Across the street is a small park, Parque Julio César Vélez, which contains murals about the history and landscape of Marsella. From there, we visited the Alexander von Humboldt Botanical Garden, which is near the entrance to the town.
