Christmas in the streets of Boyacá

In Boyacá, the holiday season is seen, breathed and tasted. This is the first part of a tour of 13 municipalities of the department that surprise with their lights and the charisma of its people.

To arrive to Boyacá is to make a trip to the colonial times, it is to cross a corner of the planet with narrow cobblestone streets that stopped in time and that still continue breathing libertarian ideas. Boyacá is for Colombians the origin of its history and for foreigners an exciting territory in which thousands of monuments converge that relate the freedom of a town with amazing landscapes of green mountains that accompany sunny days and cold nights.

Going through Colombia's past through a department can be done at any time of the year. However, it is in December when the magic jumps out, with imposing Christmas decorations that illuminate parks, trails, streets and paths to guide tourists through the famous Christmas Route organized year after year and with obvious affection for the Boyacá

There are different ways of doing it. In total there are 11 provinces that open the doors to visitors with activities ranging from the traditional celebration of the Day of Velitas to the inevitable festivities that are held in different municipalities simultaneously, including parades such as the dolls of Old Year that are seen in Iza and careful giant mangers installed in the main parks.

Some places you can not miss are in the Parador del Altiplano, located in Ventaquemada, ideal to start the tour with the unparalleled flavor of the Boyaca arepa, accompanied by water of panela and cheese. The first town you can not miss is Tuta; in the central square, a careful manger with exquisite details catches the attention of the most curious visitors; Until December 24, the municipality will hold the Folkloric Dance and Music Festival.

The second recommendation is Iza, which will also celebrate the Aguanodo Izano until December 24 and the 31st will have the Year Old Dolls parade. Iza is a typical Boyacan town with narrow streets, where everything converges around the central park; there is located the manger, which is characterized because people take a tour immersed in it. You can not leave this town without tasting the famous desserts that they sell in Calle del Dulce.

If the plan is to marvel at Christmas decorations, the suggestion is Firavitoba. From the arrival a party atmosphere is breathed thanks to the illumination inspired by the Venetian gardens that is observed in all the streets and in the park, added to the incredible energy of its people. Children, youth and seniors are focused on showing the work they did months ago and on making known the products that identify them. Here gastronomy tastes like bread, mogollas and almojábanas in a wood-burning oven and drinks the recommended Firavitobense masato.


Another place that radiates with its illumination is Corrales. The holiday environment feels a few blocks before arriving. During the traditional Aguinaldo Corraleño, the inhabitants show their own and visitors a mosaic of lights that decorate their colonial architecture representative of the region. The best view of Corrales is obtained in the highest part of the town, the whole way is illuminated and can be done by children and seniors.

To travel around Boyacá during this time demands three things basically: patience, because both the roads to reach any municipality are congested, as the streets of each of them full of Colombians and foreigners who arrive to make the different routes. Physical state, because they are long hours that go between a town and another, with slopes and descents, and finally demands to be willing to everything; to the cold nights that deserve the shelter of a traditional ruana and to be desired in each corner of the delicious gastronomy characteristic of this department of Colombia.