Off the beaten path in Colombia, you will find many treasures of history, culture and nature. Sogamoso is such a place. Indeed, the little capital in the region of Lago de Tota has much to offer. Think street art, Páramo de Ocetá and, of course, Lake Tota. You will also find perhaps the most famous museum in this region: the Archaeological Museum of Sogamoso with a beautiful reconstruction of the Sun Temple. Most travelers to Colombia when they think of Colombian history immediately think of Pablo Escobar and the FARC, but of course there is much more. In Sogamoso, you learn about the Muisca, the Colombian Indian tribe that founded Bogotá. Are you in the vicinity of Lago de Tota? Visit the Museo Arqueológico de Sogamoso.
The Archaeological Museum in Sogamoso
As the capital of the Muisca empire in the Sugamuxi province, Sogamoso is the ideal place for the Museo Arqueológico where you will learn exactly everything about the Muisca. At the Archaeological Museum, you will find archaeological finds from the region of the City of the Sun: Sogamoso. The museum holds 4,000 pieces from the Muisca era that you can admire. The museum dates back to the year 1942.
In the museum you will find an archaeological park and many pieces from the Muisca era. From musical instruments to clothing to mummies to pots and pans. You will also find many reconstructed huts, and a grave was discovered on the site in 2015.
The most beautiful thing to see, however, is the Sun Temple.
The sun temple of Sogamoso
The Sun Temple of Sogamoso was a temple of the Muisca used as a place to honor the sun god Sué. This sun temple was the most important temple in the religion of the Muisca. Unfortunately, the original temple was destroyed by fire by Spanish conquerors. In 1942, a Muisca cemetery was discovered in Sogamoso. Among other things, mummies and other archaeological pieces were found here. This allowed them to find out the original site of the sun temple in order to reconstruct it.
The reconstruction of the sun temple is 18 meters high and the symbols on the roof tell the story of the creation of the earth according to the Muisca. There are no windows, only narrow openings where you can see inside. In addition, these openings act as a calendar: every year on December 22, the sunlight falls precisely on the central pillar in the temple.
Practical: visit the museum in Sogamoso
How to get there.
From Bogotá, there are direct buses to Sogamoso. This ride takes between 4 and 5 hours. Are you coming from Villa de Leyva or San Gil? If you cannot find a direct bus, go to Tunja first and transfer there to the bus to Sogamoso.
Opening hours and costs
Admission to the museum costs 9,000 pesos per person. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 5 p.m. On Sundays, the museum is open between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Where to stay.
Just a 10-minute walk from the museum you will find a very nice hostel, in the middle of street-art, namely Hostal La Cazihita. The perfect place to stay if you want to explore Sogamoso and its surroundings.
More to do and see in and around Sogamoso
There is an awful lot to do in Sogamoso and the surrounding area. If you don’t have that much time, Sogamoso is the perfect base. If you have more time you can also choose to stay in one of the villages around Lago de Tota or in Monguí. In any case, you can do all this in the region:
- Lago de Tota and surroundings
- Street-art in Sogamoso
- Beautiful hike through Páramo de Ocetá near Monguí
- Diving in Lago de Tota
- Pueblito Antiguo
Sogamoso and your itinerary Colombia
Sogamoso is great to fit into your itinerary through Colombia. You’ll pass by it if you take this route off the beaten path. But you can also easily make a stopover if, for example, you are traveling from Bogotá to San Gil or Barichara.
Nature and history: you’ll find it in and around Sogamoso
There is an afilliation link in this article. Click here for more information.
