Plaza de Bolivar

Plaza de Bolivar
Bolivar Square is the main square of the city of Bogotá. Located in the city center, between Carreras 7 and 8th to 10th streets and 11th. All around are some of the main buildings of the city: to the north the Palace of Justice, the National Capitol south, east the Cathedral of Colombia, the Ecclesiastical Council House, the Chapel of the Shrine and the Archbishop's Palace and west Liévano Palace, home of the Mayor of Bogotá. It was proposed as National Monument Colombia by resolution 51 of 26 October 1994 and declared as such by Decree 1802 of October 19, 1995.

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After independence, it began to be called Constitution Square, official name since 1821, although some historical references indicate that the name of Plaza Mayor everyday remained among his habitantes.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.