Things to do in  Villa de Leyva

With cobbled streets and beautiful whitewashed Spanish-style structures surrounded by rolling hills, Villa de Leyvaa looks much like it did centuries ago. With so much historical charm, it should come as little surprise that this 16th-century Andean town is a hit among day-trippers from Bogotá.

See what it would be like to live in the world’s largest piece of artisanal pottery at Terracotta House (Casa Terracota). Located outside of Villa de Leyva, Casa Terracota, also referred to as Casa de Flintstone by locals, is a 5,400-square-foot (500-square-meter) house made entirely out of clay, baked and hardened by the sun.

Learn about marine dinosaurs that inhabited prehistoric Colombia and modern paleontological research techniques at the Paleontological Research Center (Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas). A modern research facility, CIP also houses a large collection of fossils from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.

The focal point of Villa de Leyva—a whitewashed colonial town seemingly frozen in time—Plaza Mayor is a sprawling, cobbled square ringed by mountains. It boasts the title of one of the largest town squares in the Americas and is home to plenty of cafés serving fragrant Colombian coffee, which are perfect for people-watching.