Related by their neoclassical architectural style, by the centuries of history their territories have gone through, and since Colombia was established as a republican government, for hosting presidents of all lineages, beliefs, and ideologies, from Simón Bolívar to the first outgoing leftist leader, the Palace of San Carlos and the Casa de Nariño (also recognized as a Palace), have transcended in Bogotá, alongside their hierarchical status, as heritage relics and cultural assets of the nation.
Following the information from historian and writer Alfredo Barón and museology and heritage management master Diana Pérez, we begin this tour through thePalace of San Carlos – much older than that of Nariño -. It dates back to the 17th century,when it was a viceregal house and Jesuit Seminary, over time,subject to several remodelings and transformations.
Initially, it owed its name to King Charles III, sovereign of the Spanish crown.When he expelled the Jesuits, the Church of San Ignacio, consecrated by theSociety of Jesus, was renamed asChurch of San Carlos. Years later,the temple regained the name of Ignacio, the saint of Loyola. This jurisdiction, inpresent-day Bogotá (6th and 7th avenues, with 9th and 10th streets, including the Colegio de SanBartolomé, founded in 1604), is known as the Jesuit Block.
The old Palace of San Carlos housed the Royal Public Library,later moved to the Colonial Art Museum until 1938, when it took its placein the National Library, just like the Royal Printing House of Santa Fe. The Palace ofSan Carlos is a building with the structure of a colonial cloister, arounda huge courtyard with an iconic palm tree, different from the shape of the Palace of Nariño,which frames a kind of huge colonial estate, surrounded by gardens, fountainsand a parade ground.
Rememberthat, on September 25, 1828, in the Palace of San Carlos, at night,the assassination attempt on Simón Bolívar took place, who, alerted and assisted byhis beloved Manuelita Sáenz, was forced to flee through one of the building’s windows,on 9th street, opposite what is now the Teatro Colón. The attackwas commemorated with an original marble plaque installed on the wall, which translates from Latinto Spanish as: “Stop,spectator, a moment, and look at the place wherethe father and liberator of the homeland, Simón Bolívar, was saved, on the nefariousSeptember night“.
In the early days of the Palace of San Carlos, the presence of Colombian presidents was intermittent. Eduardo Posada, founder of the National History Academy, narrates that Pedro Alcántara Herrán, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera,Manuel María Mallarino, Rafael Núñez – who, in his four terms, workedin the Palace of San Carlos, in his House of El Cabrero, in Cartagena, and in thePalace of La Carrera (the first project of the Palace of Nariño) -, among others,lived in this presidential seat until 1908, when Rafael Reyes orderedthe Palace of La Carrera to be adapted as the new residence for the presidents, and the San CarlosPalace was transformed into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Museologist Diana Pérez states that the Palace of San Carlos, in its role asMinistry of Foreign Affairs, besides functioning as a training ground for the diplomatic career, has its own art collection, and a great bibliographic treasurerepresented in the Marco Fidel Suárez Library, which offers specialized consultation servicesin international relations, history, and diplomacy. In its hallsand lobbies, oil portraits of the foreign ministers can be appreciated.
A charming anecdote from the old rainy and foggy Bogotá center,and its many cafés, is that during the administration of Carlos Lleras Restrepo(1966-1970), the liberal leader popularly known as ‘Remache’,left thePalace of San Carlos without escorts and walked to the Café Pasaje in thePlazoleta del Rosario to enjoy his morning coffee and ask thepatrons about the pros and cons of his government.It is worth recalling the postcard of his little grandson (in suspenders and shorts), of the recently deceased German Vargas Lleras, standing on a desk, imitating politicians in their speeches, the early steps of a statesman promising for the future.
In the comingsand goings as residence and office of statesmen, and as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the building of the Palace ofSan Carlos was not spared from the incendiary riots of the Bogotazo on April 9,1948, when it was partially destroyed. It was restored and adaptedagain as a presidential residence until 1979.Its last occupant in thatseat was Alfonso López Michelsen.
Casa de Nariño
“It iscommonly believed that the house where Antonio Nariño was born on April 9,1765, is the same mansion that, since 1980, has been inhabited by the presidents of theRepublic, but this palace is not even the same one occupied by ourremote presidents“, wrote in the 100 Books collection (Villegas Editores),the academic, historian, and professor Enrique Santos Molano, son of the famousjournalist of EL TIEMPO, Enrique Santos Montejo, nicknamed ‘Calibán‘,rememberedfor his column La Danza de las Horas.
“The house where the precursor of the independence ofNew Granada and translator of the Declaration of the Rights of Man lived until he was 19 years old, wasa two-story building, made of rammed earth and tile, which his father, Don Vicente NariñoVásquez, bought in 1754 for 5,200 patacones (currency of the time) from thebuilder brothers Juan Manuel and Miguel Antonio Arrubla, owners, amongmany properties, of Galerías Arrubla, one of the first commercial arcades inBogotá,” quotes Santos Montejo.
The current Casa de Nariño, of Renaissance neoclassical style, was commissioned to thearchitects Gastón Legarge (French) and Julián Lombana (Colombian), and wasbuilt between 1972 and 1979. Julio César Turbay Ayala inaugurated it in 1980. Inits western garden stands the building of the Bogotá Astronomical Observatory(1803), the first in America, an initiative of the scholar José Celestino Mutis, designedby the Spanish architect and friar Domingo de Petrés. The work was directed by theColombian architect Fernando Alsina.
Inside there are numerous halls such as the Viceregal Hall, the Nariño Room,the Bolívar Hall, the Painters’ Hall, the Council of Ministers Hall, thePresidential Office, all filled with tapestries, exotic decorative piecesand classic furniture from monarchical France of the Louis era, ofimmense heritage value; as well as a theater formerly used for thepremiere of Colombian films, with the presence of the sitting president.
During the presidency and poet Belisario Betancur’s term, the Palace of Nariño hada rich and permanent cultural activity. He cherished the art collections andpromoted poetic and live music evenings. Among the favorite singers and composersof the Amagá-born president were Óscar Agudelo, Silva and Villalba,the maestro Rafael Escalona and Diomedes Díaz, among others.
“Thishouse – said Betancur -, has much of a historical and artistic museum, and inpart, because of this last quality, it systematically opens to visitors fromall countries, but especially to children and youth”. The late Antioquian leader’s nomination to give the Casa de Nariño a museum character,contrasts today with the ideaof the president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, whoannounced he will turn it into “an open museum to the public“.
The incoming president did not explain what type of museum he envisions,but museum and heritage expert Diana Pérez maintains that the Casa de Nariño is already a museumdue to its permanent and temporary collections of Colombian andforeign art, as well as objects, furniture, and relics found in its rooms. Insummary: 750 cultural and heritage assets.
Meanwhile, historian Alfredo Barón wonders what kind of museum the debuting presidenthas in mind: “An urban art museum? An antiques museum?A natural history museum? The positive thing I see is that people can visit aspace that has always been closed for security reasons, but I havedoubts that his four-year term will be enough because setting up a museumtakes between 4 and 5 years, starting with the curatorial script and the study and selectionof collections“. A tough challenge awaits the delegated Minister of Culture,Paola Holguín.
RICARDO RONDÓN CHAMORRO
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