7 Best Sights in Popayán, Southwest Colombia

Popayán's most important colonial church is in remarkable condition, thanks to extensive renovation following the 1983 earthquake. The baroque church's bright interior has gilded wooden altars, and its tower holds a 3-ton bell.

This 18th-century Jesuit church, painted a bright yellow, is one of Popayán's most distinctive structures. Unfortunately, it's open only for masses.

After an earthquake destroyed the original chapel, the Dominicans built this baroque-style church in 1741. It's notable for the stonework around its doorway, which depicts exotic flowers and animals, and for the silver Virgin Mary behind its altar, brought from Spain in 1588. A former monastery next door now houses the regional university.

Housed in a lovely colonial mansion, the Archdiocesan Museum of Religious Art has a collection made up predominately of paintings, but it also has some valuable gold and silver artifacts. The works here exemplify the so-called Quito School of colonial-era art: Old World religious subjects were overlaid with Andean motifs.

One of Popayán's founding families once owned this now-restored colonial house and the religious art displayed inside. Among the family's various famous sons, most notable was General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, president of Colombia in the 1800s. Across the street is the Casa Caldas, the local tourist office, where you can pick up a city map and get the lay of the land from the friendly folks here.

Shaded by tall palms, this square is often called Plaza Caldas, after Francisco José de Caldas, the independence fighter whose statue is here. The city's cathedral, completed in 1906, is to the south; to the east is the 18th-century clock tower.

The long brick bridge spanning the Río Molino was built at the end of the 18th century, as was the smaller span nearby.