Popayán, the Dazzling White City
Attention! Put your sunglasses on in order to read this post!
Popayán is a city in western Colombia, southwest of Bogotá, located 1760 meters above sea level, and having an average temperature of 18 °C. It's known for its whitewashed colonial buildings and as a religious center with popular Holy Week processions. The city's many churches include the domed, neoclassical Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption and the 17th-century Church of La Ermita. In the city’s heart, tree-shaded Caldas Park is home to a 17th-century clock tower.
Popayán was the next logical destination on my way south, even though I had doubts I will immediately go south from there. I also had an option going to the Tatacoa Desert next, but refused this idea because that would mean crossing Andes again, and not just once. Going through mountains is a long and tiring task, especially if hitchhiking. Recently I don't even hitch due to how hard it is to do here in Colombia, opting for buses instead. Hours and hours of waiting on the roadside, when nobody stops for you... it gets quite annoying.
However the case, I had a great couch in Popayán, being free to hang around city or relax and read in a hammock on the terrace. In two days there I walked around the white historical part and witnessed a May the 1st religious procession. The city is beautiful, no doubt, but don't get your guard down, danger comes from where you least expect it.
The sun! In areas near the Equator it is strong enough by itself, but with all these stunningly white and shiny buildings all around it gets unbearable. I got caught outside without sunglasses when the sun came out and was practically blinded and unable to keep my eyes open for quite a while, cursing and swearing loudly. So if you happen to visit this place one day, heed my advice - take the sunglasses.
To get this omnipresent whiteness out of your eyes, you can head over to green areas and parks which are also present in Popayán (great places to score some weed or get your ass beaten):
Be mindful of the shady folks hanging out there, so at least try to not look like a weak and tender European type, just begging to be robbed. In my time in Colombia, I've seen the victims more than once and heard about even more. Some guys I know have never even been to a fight, imagine that. No wonder they are getting stripped of all their valuables like ripe fruit trees.
Having finished your business in the park, head over to El Morro del Tulcán, a buried Indian pyramid built approximately between 1600 - 500 BC. Nowadays it's a hill overlooking the city with the statue to Sebastián de Belalcázar (the same Conquistador who founded Cali) and just a popular place to hang out in and witness the sunset.
But what about May the 1st procession I mentioned? It was exactly what you'd expect of a Cristian celebration - a parade through the central streets all the way to the church, people carrying candles, banners and whatnot, while street vendors are making a quick buck on the passing crowds.
All in all, Popayán is peaceful town, a nice place to visit, though not particularly exciting.
Sources: in this post I used information from Wikipedia and Google Maps, all the pictures are original
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From my research, the city of Popayàn is also known as the city of bridges, there are 14 bridges around the city. Of those 14, in your photos I observed two bridges that caught my attention because of their old architectural model that at times made me think of European type bridges, of course keeping the distance in terms of dimensions.
The first of these two bridges is the Bridge of Humilladero:
and the second (which is located next to the previous bridge) is the Bridge of the Custodia or Puente Chiquito as they also call it:
The Bridge of Humilladero (that is sustained in twelve arcs), has two arcs that cross the Molino River, is a masonry construction raised in 1873. Its name is derived from the effort that before the existence of the bridge had to do the settlers to raise the slope with heavy loads to the main square of Popayán. The road was so steep that many times people had to climb almost on their knees. It tells the story that for a long time was one of the main entrances of the city; through him the liberating armies entered during the independence process. In spite of the time of construction, its imposing design and consistency in its construction have allowed it to remain safe, despite the fact that the city was devastated by some earthquakes.
The Bridge of the Custody that was built in 1713 (much older than the Bridge of Humilladero), where, according to the story, the slaves and indigenous people paraded, while the main bridge (Bridge of Humilladero) used to pass royalty and the landowners. As always, the difference of social classes present in different periods of history.
Here you can see the two bridges, one next to the other.
Additionally, I would like to tell you, according to the information gathered, that Popayàn is one of the hyperdense cities of the world (they live very tight), with more than 8,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, higher than Tokyo and Yokohama, in Japan, which does not exceed 4,600 hs / km2. (https://www.las2orillas.co/popayan-una-las-ciudades-mas-apenuscadas-del-mundo/)
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так вот откуда у наших маничка на белые машины-))
я считаю тебе надо так: раз за посты-путешествия хорошо платят. то надо съездить, выложить пост, заработать денег и на них поехать дальше) красота!
а посты и правда крутые!
Хорошо платят? Да нифига. Вот с этого мне доедет около 25$ без учёта падения нашей говнокрипты и это при том, что меня заметили @curie, @steemitworldmap и @travelfeed. Тут звёзды сошлись просто. Обычно намного меньше выходит. И потом, на сбор материала нужно несколько дней, на обработку его в пост ещё один. Херня получается, одна лишь надежда, что взлетит всё это дело наконец, но что-то надежды у меня уже нет почти.
sore eyes are the worst!
I felt the blinding sun in your photos. Green Park areas really let my eyes relax.
I like design your post!
Popayàn seems like a very interesting city. I wonder how it is living in a city so hign above sea level. I mean 1760 meters is not that high, but still. I wonder how big of a change it would be to suddenly live so high.
This is nothing. Just makes the air more chilly.
Okay, I get it. A little chilly is nice, especially in Summer.
Especially near Equator.
Beautiful looking this architecture photography, I appreciate your travelfeed. keep it up my friend.....
I'd flag your spam comment, but that'd be just a waste of VP. Pathetic.
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Excelente fotografias, buen post.