Villa de Leyva

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Villa de Leyva

Main Plaza Villa de Leyva

Flag

Seal

Nickname: "Villa de Nuestra Señora
de Santa Maria de Leyva"

Region

Andean Region (Colombia)

Department

Boyacá Department^*

Foundation

June 12, 1572

Government

- Mayor

Luis Alfredo Igua Sáenz

Area

- City

128 km² (49.4 sq mi)

Elevation

2,000 m (6,561.7 ft)

Website:
www.villadeleyva.gov.co

Villa de Leyva (sometimes spelled Villa de Leiva) is a colonial town 40 km west of Tunja, in the Boyacá department. It has a population of about 4,000 people. Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia, and was declared a National Monument in December 17, 1954 to preserve its architecture. It is located in a high valley at 2,144 m altitude where fossils from the Mesozoic and the Cretaceous abound.

It was founded in June 12, 1572 by Hernán Suarez de Villalobos and named after the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva.

Among the main areas of interests are the Main Square ("Plaza Mayor") where besides the Church, many restaurants and stores selling some handcrafted art pieces. Most of the streets around the downtown are made of stones, similar to colonial times.

Near the town itself and about a 30 minutes drive away from the main square several attractions can be found, an ostrich farm, a museum (el fosil) and an old astronomic observatory made of phallic stones ("El Infernito", for "little hell" in Spanish). There is also a group of seven waterfalls named "La Periquera" Some 15 km from the town. This attracts several tourists.

The El Fósil (Spanish for the fossil) museum has an almost complete kronosaurus fossil in display, in the same place in which it was found in 1977.

Part of the film Cobra Verde by Werner Herzog was filmed here.

A Spanish-language soap opera version of the Zorro story has been filmed here, as of 2007, by the Colombian production company RTI, distributed in the United States by Telemundo.