History

The character of the place has changed considerably since its inception, when it was surrounded by colonial houses and it was a market where farmers sell their products delivered to. It was drawn by the early Spanish settlers and owned in the center since its foundation in wood column that served the function of roll or pillory punishment, which represented the power of the king of Spain. Pillory Square presided until 1583, when the judge asked Alonso Perez de Salazar replacement by a small public source to supply water to the city.In 1681 was changed by another source of perfection and ornament, which was known to its inhabitants as "mono stack "and it is now in the Museum of Art Colonial. The only building around the square that remains from the colonial era is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. and we were all waiting for a place of celebration in which the cry of independence
After independence, it began to be called Constitution Square, official name since 1821, although some historical references indicate that the name of Plaza Mayor everyday remained among his habitantes.
On July 20, 1846, the Congress established the location in the center of the square of a bronze statue of General Simon Bolivar donated by José Ignacio París, who commissioned its design and cast the sculptor Pietro Genovese Tenerani. By this arrangement the square was named after the Liberator, act local docketed with the Agreement signed on 20 July 1847 and 7 of the Agreement June 18, 1883 to commemorate the centenary of his nacimiento.
In 1861 the market was suspended and other activities in the square as bullfights. In 1880 he installed a new pedestal for the statue of Simon Bolivar and turns, changing its original orientation which is toward the east (Cathedral) to be facing the north side of the square (courthouse) .A year Next, the minister of public instruction sent Ricardo Becerra install an English cutting garden around the statue of Bolivar surrounded with an iron railing, which was subsequently withdrawn in 1919.
In 1927 four batteries were installed with water fountains and put on a higher pedestal for the statue of Bolivar in the center of the square. The works were completed on 19 July 1929.8 The latest amendments to the square were made on behalf of the firm and Avendano Martinez, one chosen by a public competition in 1959 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of independence. The works were started on January 25, 1960. As a result, he withdrew the vehicle parking area and sources, setting the current plaza space, mainly for pedestrian use. The current design solved the problem of the decline further with the use of geographic warped planes leaning on a flat triangular area with its base on the Capitol steps, generating a seemingly against horizontal. The inauguration of the new Plaza de Bolivar was on July 16, 1961 by President Alberto Lleras Camargo.

Environment

On the north side of the square is the Palace of Justice, a huge modern building, where she established the Supreme Court. The story of the Palace of Justice is quite tragic and perhaps symbolic of the problems of the nation. The first Courthouse was built in 1921 on 11th Street with 6a and career destroyed by fire during the Bogotazo in April 1948. A new palace was built on the north side of the Plaza de Bolivar and destroyed during the famous siege of the Palace of Justice by the M-19 guerrilla movement, when the army tried to retake control of the building. The ruins of the building remained intact for four years until the government decided to completely demolish it and build a new building that currently occupies the north side.

On the south side of the square is the building stone of the National Capitol neoclassical style which is the seat of Congress. This was begun in 1848, in the same place 62 years before the viceregal palace was destroyed by fire. Due to political instability in the country, the Capitol was concluded only in 1926, 78 years after starting his work. The building was designed by Danish architect Thomas Reed, but during construction works were led successively by Colombian Mariano Sanz de Santamaria, Italian and French Pietro Cantini Lelarge Gaston, whose main proposed change was the design of a huge dome that dominate the exterior of the building, but it was decided not to build it to finish the work on time.
On the western side of the square is the Palacio Liévano, a building style "French Renaissance" designed by architect Gaston Lelarge, which is currently the home of the Mayor of Bogotá. Previously on this site were Arrubla Galleries, where shops were about, but they were destroyed by fire on May 20, 1900.
On the eastern side of the square is the Cathedral of Bogota being built 1807 and 1823 and with it the Tabernacle Chapel built in the late seventeenth century. To the right of these constructions is the Archbishop's Palace, built between 1952 and 1959 to replace the former palace, destroyed in April 1948 during the Bogotazo.
In the northeast corner is the Vase House, home of the Museum of the July 20, in which the Cry of Independence occurred on July 20, 1810, an event which led the independence movement of Spanish rule in Colombia .
Finally in the southeast corner is located the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, educational institution founded by Jesuit priests in 1604, which have formed various personalities in the history of the nation. In it, the square of Camilo Torres reminds the site where many revolutionaries were executed during the Spanish reconquest of 1816.