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.
