Tequendama Falls Museum

This article is about a building. For the falls, see Tequendama Falls.
Hotel del Salto before renovations.

The Tequendama Falls Museum of Biodiversity and Culture (Spanish: Casa Museo Salto de Tequendama Biodiversidad y Cultura) is a museum and mansion in San Antonio del Tequendama, Colombia. The museum overlooks Tequendama Falls on the Bogotá River.[1] Before renovation, the building was an abandoned hotel, known as the Tequendama Falls Hotel (La Casa del Salto del Tequendama).[2]

History

Mansion

In 1923,[3] the building was constructed as a mansion by the architect Carlos Arturo Tapias, as a symbol of the joy and elegance of the elite citizens of the 20s.[1] "The Mansion of Tequendama Falls", as the house was called, was built during the presidency of Pedro Nel Ospina (1922-1926).[3] Its exterior features French architecture. The Tequendama Falls Hotel was reached by train from Bogotá.[2]

Hotel

Starting in July 1950 the building was to be reconstructed into an eighteen-room hotel, but construction never began. Gabriel Largacha was the designer and Domenico Parma was the constructor.[4] The hotel was then abandoned in the 90s for more than two decades due to river contamination.

Museum

The Institute of Natural Sciences of the National University of Colombia and the Ecological Farm Foundation of Porvenir were jointly in charge of the renovations to convert the hotel into a museum.[3] The mansion reopened as a museum in 2013 [5] with its first exhibit: "Caverns, ecosystems of the subterranean world".

Additional images

Tequendama Falls depicted in an 1854 painting.

References

  1. 1 2 http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/bogota/25860-historic-colombian-hotel-to-be-converted-into-museum.html
  2. 1 2 La Guía Verde Colombia: Actualizada Práctica Completa Para todos los viajeros. MICHELIN. 1 January 2011. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-2-06-716548-9. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 http://www.elespectador.com/impreso/nacional/articulo-369764-casa-del-salto-del-tequendama-sera-un-museo
  4. ↑ Jean-Paul Midant (dir.) (5 February 2004). Diccionario Akal de la Arquitectura del siglo XX. Ediciones AKAL. pp. 226–. ISBN 978-84-460-1747-9. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  5. ↑ http://gunghotravels.com/2015/03/18/hotel-del-salto-colombia/

Coordinates: 4°35′10″N 74°18′00″W / 4.5861°N 74.3000°W / 4.5861; -74.3000

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