Shopping in La Candelaria
Fruit Markets **** Flea Markets **** Bicycles **** Sports Equipment **** Emeralds
Antiques**** Art
- Handicrafts for sale near the Museo de Oro Transmilenio Station
Handicrafts
There are several handicrafts (artesania) stores and markets in and around La Candelaria. One market is just a few steps off of the Plaza del Chorro, in the alley leading to Hostal Fatima. There’s another, larger one, on the east side of 7th Ave. between 12th and 13th streets. (For more on Colombian artesania see the .)
You’ll also find lots of handicrafts in the Sunday/Holiday flea market on Seventh Ave. and 24th Street, which has a bicycle parking lot convenient for Ciclovia participants.
Tienda Fibrarte
Tienda Cafe Fibrarte 11-24 3rd Ave. Phone: 286-9941 Mobile: 316-799-9164
Find this charming and beautifully decorated store on Third Ave. and 11th St., uphill and to the left from the Botero Museum. And enjoy a cup of healthful coca tea while you’re there. Chico the bulldog will say hello. (We also serve coca tea at Bogotá Bike Tours).
Lanatos/Palenkito – A small, friendly store on the corner of 15th St. and 2nd Ave.
Find 2-7711th St., downhill from La Salle University.
Galatea, a store full of color
Just across the street and a bit downhill from Lanatos, find Galatea, which is full of artesania made by locals. 15-16 2nd Ave. Cel: 314-356-4684
– Handicrafts made from natural materials. Cel: 313-375-3036 Across the street from Galatea.
K.AN.KI.WAS Cra 4 No. 12-52 Cel: 314-284-1182 sells backpacks and other handicrafts, as well as semi-precious stones.
You’ll also find more handicrafts stores along La Jimenez, also known as the Eje Ambiental (the broad avenue which Transmilenio runs along, with the water pools in its center). One is located between 4th and 5th Avenues, near the Olympica Supermarket, another at La Jimenez’s upper end, across the way from the police station.
There are also several reggae places, including , at Cra. 2da No. 14-39.
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Telonius Artesania Shop 3rd Ave. and 15th St.
The Copper Museum's store, on the Plaza de Rosario
Telonius, handicrafts, paintings and post cards – 15-95 3rd Ave. , beside Villa Candelaria Hostal. Tel: 203-9790. Yes, it’s named after jazz immortal Thelonious Monk.
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You’ll find many beautiful artworks in copper and bronze for sale in this 52-year-old shop on the Plaza del Rosario (alongside the Museo de Oro Station. ) Below the shop is the Copper Museum. 14-38 6th Ave. Tel: 234-8630.
Clay products from Chamba, Tolima
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Artesanias de la Chamba Tolima – 3-47 Jimenez Ave. Tel: 342-2268 Clay bowls, plant dishes and other products made traditionally by residents of the Chamba region of Tolima Department.
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Visit Laura at the Kaspar Colectivo
The Kaspar Colectivo at 14-52 Carrera 3 sells unique, fashionable jewelry, handbags and clothing. You’ll see spray-painted stencils of their graffiti-like, politically-satiric designs on many of La Candelaria’s walls. Look for the sculpture of the woman fishing above the shop.
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Candela Diseño Capital
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Candela Diseño Capital 4-14 15th St. rendy, artistic clothing, shoes, bags and other stuff made by , , , , and . Call Candela at: 562-9212 .
Casona del Museo de Oro
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Cafe, restaurant, as well as handicrafts and emeralds.
Located just north of the Gold Museum
5-24 16th St. Tel: 243-9628
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Herencias de Colombia – Fine Colombian handicrafts, many made by indigenous people, as well as a cafe. 4-92 16th St. Tel: 243-0195
La Forja – 2-90 12th St. 341-3377 / 336-0206 Fax: 243-5677 The Forge makes practical and ornamental iron works.
Andante – On the corner of 11th St and Carrera 3, this store is colorful inside, but has no sign outside.
Objetos Utilitarios
Objetos Utilitarios – 2-62 12th St. – This tiny shop sells chocolates, earrings, file boxes and other stuff made by local university students.
Salamandra Ceramica – Mobiles, dishes, animals and other ceramic creations. Pottery classes, too. 2–55 13th St. Tel: 283-1315 .
Sewing in a Laudes Infantis project in the Bella Flor neighborhood, south Bogotá.
Laudes Infantis Foundation – This foundation creates self-help programs for poor Bogotá communities. It sells their handiwork in its shop at 12-14 Carrera 2 .
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Pasaje Rivas furniture market La Candelaria Bogota
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Pasaje Rivas Furniture Market – In this crowded, colorful market located in two alleys near the corner of 10th St. and 10th Ave. you’ll find lots of stuff made of bamboo. Good prices, too.
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And you’ll find a real hole-in-the-wall handicrafts shop at 4-79 14th St., where they sell colorful indigenous-made baskets clothes and other stuff in the doorway.
Get your custom jewelry made at Joyeria Shantal, 2-24 13th St., just below La Plaza del Chorro. Tel: 342-0647 Cel: 315-788-2892
Religous Art
Along 11th St., near the Plaza Bolivar, there are several stores selling religious art. One is the , which sells both traditional church art and Botero reproductions. 5-95 11th St. Tel: 342-7666
Go Flea Marketing!
There’s a flea market in the Plaza del Periodista a few blocks from our shop, and the larger on the Ciclovia, on Seventh Ave. and 26th Street (right across the street from the Torre Colpatria). That flea market has many antiques, coca leaf products, clothes and, best of all, a bicycle parking area during the Ciclovia (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Fruits and Veggies
A cycle touring family in the Mercado de Egipto, above La Candelaria
Colombia has a huge variety of exotic and delicious fruits and vegetables. Have you tried a pitalla? A granadilla? How about a zapote or a tree tomato? If you leave Colombia without tasting them, you’ll have missed out! You can find and taste some of them at the Mercado de la Concordia, up the hill between 14th and 15th Streets, more of them up, up, up the hill at El Mercado de Egipto, or Rumichaca, on the Ave. Circunvular and 6th Street (but be cautious in this area and do not venture into the Egipto or Belén neighborhoods, which are high-crime areas). We often visit fruit markets on our bike tours!
On Sunday market day, examining veggies inside the Concordia Market
The Mercado de la Concordia
El Mercado de la Concordia (also known as el Mercado de los Milagros, thanks to the mural work done for a soap opera) is located on 13th St. and 1st Ave., two blocks uphill from Hostal Fatima and a block south of La Plaza del Chorro.
The handsome, century-old market contains handicrafts, fruits and vegetables, a lunchery and general stores. On Sundays, campesinos bring in their products and also prepare traditional Colombian foods such as ajiacos.
A group of cyclists in the Palo Quemao Market.
You can find even more fruits and veggies (as well as meats, eggs and everything else) in the big Mercado de Palo Quemao on 19th Street. Sunday, when campesinos (peasants) bring their production in, is the best day for all of these markets.
Also on Sundays, the Palo Quemao market’s parking lot fills up with flower sellers. Very beautiful.
Art
The LIA has two locations in La Candelaria, which exhibit contemporary work by Colombian artists. Admission is free. No. 2-71 13th St. and on the corner of Carrera 3 and 16th St. Tel: 284-3913 .
La Agonia Art Gallery
, at 3-44 9th St. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, and features the often erotic works by its Italian owner. For info call: 314-387-1680 or 301-256-7239.
Also check out La Forja, on 12th St., just above Carrera 3. It’s a working iron forge which also sells both artistic and functional works.
Emeralds
Colombia is the world’s largest emerald producer, although some of the stones are mined in atrocious conditions. Illegal informal mines can collapse, turning into graves for those working inside.
The blocks between Fifth and Seventh Avenues and 12th St. and Jimenez Ave. are La Candelaria’s emerald district. You’ll see lots of shops with emeralds and other gems in their windows. On the southwest corner of 7th Ave. and Jimenez, you’ll also see lots of men gathered in little bunches, talking intensely and studying pieces of paper in their hands. Those papers’ creases hold tiny green emeralds. If you do buy emeralds, be cautious – some sellers disguise the stones’ defects, and back home you might find you don’t have what you paid for. The emerald sellers also have their own .
Wine: There are several small wine shops on the south side of La Jimenez, just east of La Plaza de Lourdes and the Museo de Oro Transmilenio Station. Don’t expect much Colombian wine, though. The nation is known for different sorts of mind-bending. substances – although not necessarily more damaging ones.
Groceries
There are several small, independent groceries in La Candelaria, including two on 10th St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, another on the corner of 3rd Ave. and 15th St. and yet another in La Concordia, near the Torres. You’ll also find fruit and vegetable shops and bakeries (panaderias) on 13th St., between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
Supermarkets: There’s a Ley Supermarket on 7th Ave. between 11th and 12th Streets and an Olympica on Ave. Jimenez across from the police post, between 4th and 5th Streets.- one on 7th Ave, between 11th and 12th Streets, and another, Olympica, on La Jimenez between 4th and 5th Avenues.
Photography
Near 7th Ave and Jimenez you’ll find numerous photo places which sell film and some digital camera supplies and make prints. Foto Japon, at 7th Ave. and 19th St. also sells cameras. But if you want to get a decent, inexpensive camera you’ll probably want to visit one of the San Andresitos markets. They don’t have the best reputation, so be careful, and it’s said that many of their products are brought in in money laundering schemes. But you can get decent new stuff cheap. Be sure that Sony’s a REAL Sony.
If your camera needs repair, there are several shops in the area around 6th Ave. and 22nd St. and others around Carrera 9 and Calle 20.
Military Stuff
Fashion for today's girl guerrilla
On the blocks along Carrera 9 between 8th and 10th Streets, just south of the Police Museum, you’ll find lots of military gear shops. Strange to find them just beside the presidential palace, but maybe authorities figure they can keep an eye on them there.
Antiques
La Niña de la Columna
La Niña de la Columna, is full of atmosphere and old stuff the owner has collected. Walk thru the two floors of jumble – he seems happy to show off his collection, and of course welcomes purchases. The house itself, he says, dates from the 1600s. Cra 3 no. 13-45 Tel: 342-9106 Cel: 311-888-3251 .
This cyclist wants all of those emeralds.
Sports Supplies
In Bogotá, stores of the same type are often concentrated in a single sector or street, rather than scattered throughout the city. There’s a lightbulb district, a bicycle district, a – well, you name it district. It’s not a very convenient arrangement, but once you get to the sector, you will find lots of selection.
For bicycles or bike parts, or to get a bike repaired, go west on 13th St. (La Jimenez) past La Caracas Ave. (the one with Transmilenio) and then one more block. The south side of the street is lined with about 25 bike shops. Be cautious, many of the used bikes for sale here are stolen!
Sports EquipmentGeneral sports supplies can be got on 17th St., between carreras 5 and 7.
Location
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