BEST MUSEUMS AND CENTERS OF INTEREST IN THE COFFEE AXIS
ART MUSEUM OF PEREIRA
The Pereira Art Museum Foundation’s corporate purpose is to promote and develop culture in all its forms, especially in the field of the visual arts. It operates through the Art Museum, a permanent, non-profit institution serving society and its progress, open to the public. It is especially dedicated to collecting, researching, preserving, communicating, exhibiting and promoting study and education, with an emphasis on the visual arts.
Arguably the best art museum in the region, this museum showcases thought-provoking exhibits by Colombian and South American artists. Exhibitions change three or four times per year.
Since Museo de Arte de Pereira is a non-profit Foundation, with the purpose of disseminating, promoting and fostering cultural activity, there is a major emphasis on the arts.
Designed to be a museum with large spaces, with logistical capabilities suitable for housing samples of modern and contemporary art, the building has withstood two earthquakes and thankfully remains intact. There are four rooms specially designed for exhibitions of local, national and foreign artists and it is the main stage for meeting, reflection and artistic thought in Pereira.
Artists who either have in the past exhibited or currently do so, include Jhon Castles, Debora Arango, Edgar Negret, Cruz Diez, Henry Moore, Álvaro Barrios, María de la Paz Jaramillo and Beatriz Gonzales among others. Enabling the exhibition of modern, contemporary and national art, the museum has a fascinating story to tell. Great use of light and positioning creates an amazing atmosphere. The museum encourages young, upcoming artists to display their work and indeed offers sponsorships for an array of different efforts.
The Museum also has an audiovisual room, the Don Juan María Marulanda movie theatre, which can accommodate three hundred people, a general archive, a heritage conservation room and a music and audio library. At its center is a 35 mm cinema, with daily showings from the early years of cinema up to the present.
Entrance fee 5,000 pesos (US$1.20), students 2,000 pesos.
Address: Avenida de las Americas #19-88, Pereira.
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Movies:
Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 6:45 p.m.
Tel. (+57 6) 324 538 7251
Email: museoartepereira@gmail.com
Website
Museum Location
QUIMBAYA GOLD MUSEUM
The Quimbaya Gold Museum is located in Armenia, Quindio and was designed by famous Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona. It displays a large collection of pre-Columbian art, including nearly four hundred gold objects, over one hundred ceramic vessels, twenty-two stone sculptures, carved woods and other items, mainly from the pre-Columbian Quimbaya civilization, Embera along with other Amerindian tribes.
Some of the most important pieces are the gold Poporos (traditional vestiges for chewing coca leaves) and zoomorphic vases. The indigenous Poporos are authentic pieces of aboriginal art conceived as useful utensils for daily life and they contain mystery and fascination.
The Archaeobotanical Garden
There is a virtual center, an auditorium with first-class technology and acoustics, a children’s room, a botanical garden and a modern exhibition hall, all surrounded by ornamental plants and palm trees, paths and waterways. Many of the pieces have been preserved by experts from the Gold Museum of Bogotá.
Address: Av. Bolívar # 40 North Armenia
Tel. (+57 6) 749 8169 and 741 3300
email: BanrepculturalArmenia@banrep.gov.co
Opening hours: Monday – Saturday 9 am – 6 pm, closed Sunday
Free entry
Website
Museum Location
MANIZALES CATHEDRAL
Plaza de Bolívar’s south side is dominated by the odd but impressive Catedral de Manizales. Begun in 1928 and built of concrete, it is among the first churches of its kind in Latin America.
Its main tower is 106m/348 feet high, making it the highest church tower in the country. You can climb the seemingly endless spiral staircase to the top for spectacular views of the city.
Designed by the French architect Julien Polty and built in several stages between 1928 and 1939 by the Italian firm Papio Bornarda.
Catedral de Manizales
The Cathedral was built substantially with reinforced concrete, with an area of 2,500 square meters/26,910 square feet and a capacity for 5,000 worshippers. It has a central tower 106 meters/348 feet high where the Polish passageway is located and four side towers 50 meters/164 feet high each, named San Pablo, Santa Inés, San Marcos and San Francisco. These survived until 1962, when an earthquake that struck the city brought down the San Francisco tower, which remained demolished for 30 years until its reconstruction.
The main doors of the Cathedral are made of bronze, designed by Leopoldo del Río, where the most important historical events of the city are reflected – its foundation, the first church and the earthquakes and fires that affected the city until 1926.
The cathedral has a Greek Cross plan, three naves, a presbytery with decorated canopies for the main altar and a choir for the canons. Most of the heritages are from Gothic architecture, although there are influences of Byzantine and Roman details. From the top of the tower the you can see the most fantastic vista, the surrounding landscape and the layout of Manizales center and its design.
One of the decorative features of the Cathedral is its huge stained glass windows, which constitute a surface area of around 800 square metres/8,611 square feet in total. There are works by French, Italian and Colombian artists. On December 23, 1951, Pope Pius XII granted the cathedral the title of Basilica.
Address: Plaza de Bolívar, Carrera 22 #24-13, Manizales, Caldas
Tel. (+57 6) 883 1880
Entry fee:
12,000 pesos (US$2.80) for adults and 8,000 pesos ((US$1.90) for children under 14
Email: partidascatedral@gmail.com
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Rosary Location
BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF PEREIRA
The Botanical Garden of the Technological University of Pereira is an important center for research, conservation and environmental education. Within the grounds of the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Jardín Botánico gardens have orchids, exotic bamboos, hummingbirds and medicinal plants.
Botanical Gardens
The garden covers nearly 13 hectares/32 acres and features a 1.5 km/1 mile trail through various wildlife ecosystems. One of the guadua, another of the wetlands and an ecosystem of secondary forest.
Here you can see 263 species of birds and several species of trees that are in danger of extinction, such as oak, crested cumin, black cedar, mountain cedar and ponderosa pine. Visitors can enjoy a day of adventure and adrenaline, riding on the high ropes and canopy zip wire.
The UTP Botanical Garden is one of the largest and best-organized in western Colombia.
The goal of the UTP Botanical Garden is to contribute to the conservation of the biological diversity of the Andean forest through research and management of its conservation area and related ecosystems. The garden has a nursery where plants are sold and specialist advice is provided. The gardens create a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Address: UTP, Pinares, Pereira
Tel. (+57 6) 321 2523 or 313 7500
Email: comunicaciones@utp.edu.co
Opening hours 9 am – 5 pm weekdays, 9 am – 2 pm weekends
Entry fee depends on the number of people, ranging from 13,500 pesos (US$3.20) to 24,500 pesos (US$5.80)
Website
Botanical Gardens Location
BOTANICAL GARDEN OF QUINDIO
Armenia’s wonderful 15 hectare/37 acre botanical garden has the best mariposario (butterfly enclosure) in the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Zone). Designed in the shape of a giant butterfly, it houses nearly two thousand of the creatures. There is also a 22m/72 feet tall lookout tower, with various ferns, orchids, a guadua (bamboo) forest and an extensive collection of palm trees.
Walking the winding paths through the forests, one can identify (with the help of the friendly, knowledgeable guides) many species of palm trees. Colombia has the second-largest diversity of palms in the world, with 235 known varieties. In the garden here in Quindio, there are 150 of these species spread throughout the forest.
Another Botanical attraction is the wide assortment of ferns, giving the park a Jurassic feel. Ferns are the most ancient of plants on Earth. So old indeed that they predate seeds and reproduce with spores. They are everywhere at the botanical garden, from smaller ground dwellers to the arboreal, tree-like ferns.
The Quindío Botanical Garden was founded in 1979 by Alberto Gómez Mejía as a center for scientific research, ecological conservation and environmental education.
A place for the study and conservation of all the native plants of the department of Quindío, this wonderful center studies and investigates ecology. The Botanical Garden emphasizes the care and preservation of all species, including the water, air and everything that surrounds us.
The butterfly garden of the Botanical Garden is classified as one of the best in the world. Its structure, a beautiful inspiration of the Cristalina Quindiana butterfly, covering 680 square metres/7,319 square feet, houses more than 1,500 butterflies and in excess of 30 native species. Over 10 hectares/25 acres of flora adorn the countryside with almost one thousand species of native plants, making this such a unique and pleasant visit.
The Garden has a Bird Observatory too, where you can admire the great diversity of birds found in the Quindío region. The small, camouflaged bird-watching cabin, furnished with simple seating and one-way glass, overlooks a beautiful garden where fresh fruits attract the colourful local birds. There is also a fun suspension bridge over a deep gully, a mini-maze and one of the region’s popular miradors (lookout towers).
Opening hours 8:30 am – 3:30 pm daily
Entry fee 66,000 pesos (US$15.70), 30,000 (US$7.14) for children
Address: Km 3 vía al Valle del Cauca, Calarcá, Quindío
Quindío Botanical Garden Location
Tel. (+57 6) 742 7254 or (+57) 310 404 5223
WhatsApp +57 310 404 5223
Website
CASA DEL MAR MUSEUM OF SPACE ART
Casa del Mar Museo de Arte Espacial is a space that offers experiences, an immersive learning environment for the development of creative thinking. Just 25 minutes from downtown Pereira, in the district of La Florida, lies Casa del Mar, a space that challenges traditional art conventions in Colombia.
This space, part museum, part cultural center, is the physical manifestation of the avant-garde vision of Camilo del Mar, an artist whose work has marked a turning point in the movement toward spatial art in the country.
Casa del Mar is an immersive experience that invites visitors to immerse themselves in a world where art, science and technology intertwine in surprising ways. Here, the works of art are not limited to being viewed from a distance. Instead, the viewer is an active participant in the interaction with the pieces, which are designed to respond to external stimuli such as light, sound and movement.
Visiting Casa del Mar is much more than an experience; it is a total immersion in a sensorial universe. Each tour is a personalized experience lasting approximately two hours, during which visitors not only have the opportunity to contemplate the works of art but also to understand the scientific and technological processes that make them possible. Camilo himself guides visitors through his work, unravelling the secrets behind each piece, from the choice of materials to the application of the most advanced technologies.
However, the experience does not end with the contemplation of art. Camilo has designed a gastronomic offering that complements the visit, surprising the senses with flavours and textures carefully selected to resonate with the themes of his works. This fusion of art, science and gastronomy makes Casa del Mar an unparalleled cultural destination in Colombia.
Please note that due to the exclusive and personalized nature of these tours, making your reservation in advance is required. This ensures that each group of visitors receives unique attention and can enjoy the experience in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere.
Address: Carrera 12 #98-23 La Florida, Pereira
How to Visit Casa del Mar:
For those who wish to experience this unique experience, Camilo del Mar offers reservations through social media or via WhatsApp at +57 310 891 0960.
Visits are limited and bookings made in advance are recommended to secure a spot. Each visit promises to be a sensorial and educational journey that will not only challenge the perception of art but also invite visitors to question and rediscover their relationship with the world around them.
Casa del Mar Location
An entrance fee is advised when booking. There are special prices for students and young people, tickets for which must be booked ahead of time.
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