- Address: Soacha, Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia
- Opening hours: 07: 00-17: 00
One of the most mystical places in Colombia is the abandoned hotel del Salto (El Hotel del Salto), located near Bogotá in the town of San Antonio del Tekendama. It was a chic hotel, which, a few years after the pompous opening, closed forever.
One of the most mystical places in Colombia is the abandoned hotel del Salto (El Hotel del Salto), located near Bogotá in the town of San Antonio del Tekendama. It was a chic hotel, which, a few years after the pompous opening, closed forever. For a long time the building was covered with bushes and moss, and today it resembles a shot from a horror film.
Historical background
In 1920, a local architect named Carl Arturo Tapia began to build a villa on the orders of President Marco Fidel Suarez. He chose a place on a picturesque site. On one side there was a cliff, and on the other - the Tekendama waterfall, whose name translates from the Indian language as an "open door". Aborigines believed that there are spirits that help to move into another world.
The structure was built in 1923 in the Gothic style and resembled a French castle. At the same time, the official opening occurred in 5 years. In 1950, the building was converted into a 6-storey hotel (4 ground and 2 underground levels). Gabriel Largacha was engaged in design work.
Why the Salto hotel in Colombia was abandoned?
In the middle of the 20th century the hotel became very popular, rich Colombians and tourists settled in it. The guests were attracted to the royal apartments and local cuisine with an exquisite menu. They enjoyed admiring the local fauna, the surrounding nature and the 137-meter waterfall.
In 1970, the flow of tourists decreased significantly. There are 2 versions of why this happened:
- Visitors began to die in the mansion. They put their hands on the rooms or jumped from the roof to the cliff. Hotel Salto in Colombia has become legendary and began to attract lovers of mysticism. Local residents claim that they often hear voices here and see ghosts who are suicidal souls.
- The Tekendam waterfall began to run low, as the rivers feeding it were heavily polluted with industrial waste and, moreover, produced a terrible smell. Over time, from a powerful stream remained a small trickle.
- In 1990, the forever closed hotel del Salto began to attract tourists not only from all over Colombia, but also from around the world, only not as a hotel, but as a kind of attraction .
Hotel Salto in Colombia today
In the mansion for a long time no one lived, so he overgrew wild plants and partially collapsed. Currently there is the Museum of Biodiversity and Culture of the Tequendama Falls (Casa Museo del Salto del Tequendama). It was opened after a complete restoration, and environmentalists together with local authorities carried out work on cleaning the river and its tributaries.
For repair work and the upgrading of the territory was spent $ 410 thousand Significant financial assistance was provided by the European Union fund. After the works, the building was given the status of the cultural heritage of the country. Several exhibitions have been opened in the museum:
- Cavernas, Ecosistemas del Mundo Subterráneo - tells about a variety of biological species that live in underground ecosystems;
- La anatomía del cuerpo humano de Francesco Antommarchi - here you can see the anatomical drawings created by the doctor François Antomarchi;
- Un día en el Desierto de la Tatacoa - introduces visitors to the biological diversity of the Tataqoa desert .
Features of visit
If you want to plunge into the past, see ghosts or modern exhibitions, then come to the museum any day from 07:00 to 17:00. The price of the admission ticket is approximately $ 3. Tourists can freely move around the entire mansion, while photographing inside the hotel is prohibited.
How to get there?
Hotel del Salto is located 40 km from the capital of Colombia - Bogotá . You can get here on such highways as Av. Boyacá, Cra 68 and Av. Cdad. de Quito.