Museo Paleontológico, in conjunction with the Science Department of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, presents impressive exhibitions on the geology and paleontology of what we today call the Desert of Villa de Leyva. The extensive collection, housed in the old Molina de Losada, one of the first mills in the region, includes fossils of creatures of the once-sea here, like bivalves, gastropods, ammonites, fishes and sea-going dinosaurs, as well as of plants. You can even adopt a fossil, as part of a project to keep finds in their original places and establish museum foci around the countryside.

Location:
Km 1, Vía Arcabuco
Villa de Leyva , Colombia

Museum Types:
Paleontology

Getting There
Walk East along Carrera 9 or 10. Both intersect before becoming the Vía Arcabuco. After a kilometer (0.6 miles), the museum will be on your left.

Price Description: Adults $1.30, children $0.50

Relative price: Budget

Open Hours from:Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m., 2 p.m., Sunday and holidays 9 a.m.

Open Hours to:Tuesday-Saturday 9 noon, 5 p.m., Sunday and holidays 3 p.m.,

Days Closed:Closed Tuesday after puente holiday.

Travel Skills: None

You Need to Bring: Bring water, snack, money enough for entry, hat, sunblock, camera.

The churches, colonial houses and other museums in Villa de Leyva; Monasterio Santo Ecce Homo, El Infiernito and other sights along the road to Santa Sofía; Ráquira and the monastery at La Candelaria; the waterfalls, caves and other natural sights past Santa Sofía and towards Gachantivá.

Currencies accepted
Colombian Peso

Contact Information:
Phone: 8-732-0466
URL: www.unal.edu.co/museopale

By Lorraine Caputo

Upon re-declaring her independence at age 29, Lorraine Caputo packed her trusty Rocinante (so her knapsack's called) and began traipsing throughout...

Created: 16 Jun 2008

Updated: 18 May 2009

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