Hotel Del Salto near Taekwuendama Falls is one of the main attractions, which is located about 30 kilometers southwest of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. Thousands of tourists who visit the area to admire the height of the waterfall at 157 meters and the surrounding nature, stopping at one place where the abandoned Hotel De Salto stands. El Abara and Taekwuendam were the first settlements in Colombia. A river riffles through a rocky gorge that narrows to 60 feet at the edge of the falls, in the month of December the falls dry up completely. The waterfall can be reached by car or bus on the road from Bogotá.
According to Muisca legend, the waterfall was created by Bochica, who used his wand to break a rock and release water that spread from Bogotá into the savannah.
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According to another legend, during the Spanish conquest in South America, in order to avoid slavery indigenous population the regions turned into eagles and began to defend Salto Del Taekwuendam only for the sake of achieving their freedom. Opened in 1924 luxury hotel overlooking a waterfall welcoming visiting wealthy tourists.
But in the early 90s, the hotel was closed, believed to be due to polluted river water. Later there were rumors that there were ghosts in the hotel, which began to attract tourists more. There was talk of reviving it and restoring it to its former glory, but that was just talk. Ghost stories were of a different nature, there were constant fights in the bar on the second floor and the sounds of a struggle were heard, on the other hand, there are stories about those who tried to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff.
The last story seems more true for the population, because according to their beliefs, if you jump off a cliff, you receive forgiveness from all the sinful past. Del Salto Hotel with its ghosts has now been turned into a museum where you can listen to different stories and legends, as well as admire the beautiful nature and magnificent waterfall.
Hotel Del Salto (Colombia, El Hotel del Salto) is one of the most amazing and mysterious sights South America causing conflicting feelings. On the one hand, the building, built in the French style, captivates with the grace and elegance of its lines, on the other hand, the desolation and dilapidation inherent in the building abandoned by people gives it a gloomy and eerie shade. The hotel is located a few dozen kilometers southwest of the Colombian capital of Bogotá. The building was built in a fantastically beautiful place - on the edge of a sheer cliff, surrounded by mountains shrouded in misty haze, opposite the roaring Tekviendama waterfall.
Historical facts
The construction of the hotel began at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1920, by the then famous architect Carlos Arturo Tapia. A very picturesque place was chosen for the construction - not far from the turbulent Tekviendama waterfall, located in the municipality of San Antonio del Tekviendama (in the Colombian department of Cundinomarco). Initially, the building was built as a country residence of Pedro Nel Ospina Vasquis, who ruled from 1922 to 1926. In 1923, the construction of the mansion was completed, and its opening took place only in 1927.
In the early 50s of the XX century, the building was gradually rebuilt into a hotel, which is known today as the Del Salto Hotel (Colombia), by specialists from Bogota Gabriel Largach and Dominic Parmo. The renovated building had 6 floors: 4 floors were above the ground, and 2 floors were located underground. In the basement there were laundries, utility and storage rooms. The hotel was equipped with 18 luxurious rooms, each of which had a private bathroom and a fireplace, the building also had a restaurant with a cozy terrace offering amazing views of the waterfall and mountains. Guests of the hotel who stayed here noted the special spiritual atmosphere of this unique place, excellent living conditions and excellent service.
This place was very popular among the local rich and wealthy foreigners.
The prosperity and decline of the Del Salto Hotel
The hotel flourished until the 70s. Hotel "Del Salto" (Colombia) had a rather high rating at that time. According to the reviews of tourists, everyone was attracted by its mysterious and mysterious appearance, the luxury that reigned in it. But in the next decade, as travelers note, the hotel gradually began to fall into decay. The official version explaining this fact was that industrial sewage and sewage began to be poured into local rivers. Because of this, Tekviendama began to grow shallow and emit unpleasant odors. Naturally, as tourists note, they could not like it. The flow of those wishing to relax in this hotel has come to naught.
In the late 70s, Roberto Arias became the new owner of the mansion. He converted the hotel into a restaurant, which worked for about 7 years. After that, Arias left Colombia and the restaurant closed.
Rumors and legends
The 140-meter Taekviendama waterfall and its surroundings have been considered strange and mysterious place. Translated from the ancient Indian language, its name means "open door". The Muisca Indians (or, as they were also called Chibcha), who lived here in the 12th-16th centuries, believed that there was a door to the other world, near which spirits lived, accompanying the dead on the way to eternal refuge. For this reason, they preferred to bypass Taekviendama by the tenth road.
According to one legend, the waterfall was created by the Mui god Bochika, who broke a huge stone with his staff, which blocked the water on the way to the savannah.
Another myth says that when the Spanish conquistadors came to South American lands, the local freedom-loving inhabitants did not want to submit to the conquerors and rushed down from the cliff, and their souls turned into eagles, fiercely defending their homeland.
mecca for suicide
In the 90s, when the Del Salto Hotel (Colombia), the photo of which you see in the article, became abandoned and uninhabited, this place mysteriously began to attract those wishing to commit suicide. The mystical atmosphere literally drove people crazy, and they jumped down from the cliff. The local population believes that the spirits that live near the waterfall and guard the “open door” from excessively noisy and curious onlookers are taken to the other world. There are also rumors about numerous ghosts living in the building of the former hotel.
New life of the hotel "Del Salto"
At the beginning of our century, to the abandoned Del Salto Hotel (Colombia), whose address today is: Santa Marta, r. Bogota, the Colombian government noted, the building was given the status of the country's architectural heritage and a lot of money was allocated for restoration and restoration work. In 2011, the former hotel was taken over by the Institute of Natural Sciences, the foundation responsible for the environment, and the National Columbian University. These organizations rebuilt the hotel and made here the Museum of Biological Diversity and Culture of the Tekviendama Falls (Musee de la biodiversite et de la culture des chutes de Tequendama). The European Union has allocated about 310,000 euros (more than 400,000 US dollars) to restore and improve the building and its surrounding area.
Museum
The Institute of Natural Sciences, with the support of the National, has done a tremendous job, purifying the water in the rivers that feed the ill-fated waterfall.
At the end of 2009, the renovated architectural monument, which became a museum, hosted the first exposition, which tells about the numerous inhabitants of underground ecological systems. In the summer of 2013, an anatomical exhibition was held, which included sketches and sketches by Dr. Francois Antomarca, and in the fall of the same year, a museum exhibition dedicated to the biological diversity of the Tatacoa desert.
Local authorities are actively urging tourists not to be afraid of the notoriety that has been inherent in the Del Salto Hotel for a long time, but to boldly visit these Amazing places to leave unforgettable impressions for a lifetime.
Hotel Del Salto (Colombia): how to get there
Before museum complex and the Tekviendama waterfall, located in the municipality of San Antonio del Tekviendama, can be reached from the Colombian capital of Bogotá either independently - by regular bus or private transport, or as part of an excursion group.
Abandoned cinema, Sinai desert
In the south of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, there is an abandoned cinema. What is he doing there? The desert cinema was built by a rich Frenchman with his own money, but this cinema never became popular.
Cinema in the desert
This cinema was built open air and looked much better than now.
I do not know why, but this rich Frenchman decided that the most the best place to watch a movie there will be a desert.
This movie theater in the desert never became a movie theater. It did not show any films.
More than 10 years have passed since the construction. The cinema looks terrible and even more than that - apocalyptic.
The desert cinema was designed for 150 people, which is why there are so many chairs.
Why did everything happen to this cinema? Some talk about some kind of curse, which is hard to believe, which contributed to this, while others say that the local authorities intentionally damaged the projector on the first day of the premiere. They really didn't like the movie theater in the desert.
Abandoned Refugio Hotel El Salto in Colombia
In 1924, in a picturesque place, 18 km southwest of Bogota, the chic Refugio El Salto hotel was built in the city of San Antonio del Tekendama.
But in the early 90s of the last century, the hotel was closed due to the increasing cases of suicide by drunken visitors to the institution.
Currently, options are being considered for opening a museum or a police station in the hotel, but according to local residents, these are all rumors.
And besides, at night, mysterious shadows were seen in the gloomy building, as evidenced by the residents of San Antonio del Tekendama, saying that a ghost had settled in the hotel.
edited news Fahrengeit - 4-04-2016, 16:01
One of the most mystical places in the city is the abandoned Hotel del Salto (El Hotel del Salto), located near the town of San Antonio del Tekendama. It was a chic hotel, which, a few years after the pompous opening, closed forever.
One of the most mystical places in the city is the abandoned Hotel del Salto (El Hotel del Salto), located near the town of San Antonio del Tekendama. It was a chic hotel, which, a few years after the pompous opening, closed forever. For a long time, the building was overgrown with shrubs and moss, and today it resembles a scene from a horror movie.
Historical background
In 1920, a local architect named Carl Arturo Tapia began building the villa at the behest of President Marco Fidel Suarez. He chose a place on a picturesque site. On one side there was a cliff, and on the other - the Tequendama waterfall, whose name is translated from the Indian language as "open door". The natives believed that spirits lived here, helping to move to another world.
The structure was built in 1923 in the Gothic style and resembled a French castle. At the same time, the official opening took place 5 years later. In 1950, the building was converted into a 6-storey hotel (4 ground and 2 underground levels). Design work was handled by Gabriel Largacha.
Why is the Salto Hotel in Colombia abandoned?
In the middle of the 20th century, it gained great popularity, rich Colombians and tourists settled in it. The guests were attracted by the royal apartments and with an exquisite menu. They enjoyed admiring the local fauna surrounding the 137-meter waterfall.
In 1970, the flow of tourists was significantly reduced. There are 2 versions why this happened:
- Visitors began to die in the mansion. They committed suicide in rooms or jumped from the roof into the cliff. The Salto Hotel in Colombia has acquired legends and began to attract lovers of mysticism. Locals claim that they often hear some voices here and see ghosts, which are the souls of suicides.
- The Tekendama waterfall began to dry up, as the rivers that fed it were heavily polluted with industrial waste and, in addition, emitted a terrible smell. Over time, a small stream remained from a powerful stream.
- In 1990, the permanently closed Hotel del Salto began to attract tourists not only from all over Colombia, but from all over the world, only not as a hotel, but as a kind.
Hotel Salto in Colombia today
No one lived in the mansion for a long time, so it was overgrown with wild plants and partially collapsed. It currently houses the Museum of Biodiversity and Culture of the Tequendama Falls (Casa Museo del Salto del Tequendama). It was opened after a complete restoration, and environmentalists, together with local authorities, carried out work to clean up the river and its tributaries.
$410,000 was spent on repair work and beautification of the territory. Significant financial assistance was provided by the European Union Fund. After the work was completed, the building was given the status cultural heritage country. The museum has several exhibitions:
- Cavernas, Ecosistemas del Mundo Subterraneo - talks about the variety of biological species that live in underground ecosystems;
- La anatomía del cuerpo humano de Francesco Antommarchi - here you can see anatomical drawings created by the doctor Francois Antommarchi;
- Un día en el Desierto de la Tatacoa - introduces visitors to biological diversity.
Features of the visit
If you want to plunge into the past, see ghosts or modern exhibitions, then come to the museum any day from 07:00 to 17:00. The entrance ticket price is approximately $3. Tourists are free to roam throughout the mansion, while photography inside the hotel is prohibited.
How to get there?
Hotel del Salto is located 40 km from the capital of Colombia -. You can get here by highways such as Av. Boyacá, Cra 68 and Av. cdad. de Quito.
The hotel building was built in 1923 in the tiny town of San Antonio del Tekendama, 30 kilometers southeast of the country's capital. This is one of the most beautiful places on the Bogota River - here is the Tequendama waterfall (Tequendama). The name of the 137-meter waterfall means "open door" - the Indians who inhabited the river valley believed that the waterfall arose after the wizard cut the mountain. The then President of the Republic of Colombia, Pedro Nel Ospina, ordered the construction of an unusual mansion in the style of a French castle - the windows of the palace built on the very edge of the cliff overlooked a waterfall. In addition to the four above-ground floors, the building had two underground floors, which housed storage rooms and a laundry. Ospina's powers expired in 1926, and the palace appeared new owner who opened a hotel within these walls. The heyday of the El Hotel del Salto came in the middle of the last century, when it was resold again, reconstructed and opened to guests. Then El Hotel del Salto had 18 apartments with bathrooms and fireplaces, and a restaurant with a terrace, where wealthy residents of the capital came to relax with pleasure. The attractiveness of the hotel was directly dependent on the magnificent view of the waterfall, so when Tekendama began to become shallow and polluted with sewage in the 1970s, the flow of people wishing to relax at the hotel also dried up.
In the absence of vacationers, interest in the abandoned hotel arose among those who decided to take their own lives. In general, the local Indians began to use the waterfall as a means of transition to another world - pursued by the conquistadors, they threw themselves off the cliff with their whole families, and, according to legend, turned into eagles. In the 20th century, the slopes near the hotel were similarly used by lovelorn romantics, bankrupt businessmen and others for too balanced categories of citizens - though without subsequent reincarnation. At one time, they even wanted to move the police station to the building of an abandoned hotel, and locals they spread rumors about the ghosts of the dead - it was necessary to somehow deal with the flow of those who wanted to say goodbye to the hotel with their lives.
Recently, the state has paid attention to El Hotel del Salto. The building received the status of an object of cultural heritage of Colombia, after reconstruction it is planned to open within its walls National Museum biological diversity of fauna and flora. As for the smell that once put vacationers away from the hotel, the Institute of Natural Sciences of the National University of Colombia is doing a great job of cleaning up Bogotá and its tributaries. The waterfall can be seen throughout the year, except for December, when the river is almost completely shallow. The creators of the fund raising funds for the reconstruction of El Hotel del Salto urge tourists not to be afraid of ghost stories and come to the palace for beautiful shots against the backdrop of a waterfall, because the only ghost that has owned this picturesque place for a long time is human indifference and disregard for nature - left him forever.
