The Museo Colonial occupies a 17th-century Jesuit building on Calle 9 in La Candelaria and holds the finest collection of Spanish colonial art in Colombia. The building itself — whitewashed walls, carved wooden ceilings, and a central courtyard — is as impressive as the contents.
The collection includes paintings by Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos, Colombia's most important colonial painter, along with colonial furniture, silver, sculpture, and religious objects spanning the 17th and 18th centuries. It is quieter and more contemplative than the gold-focused Museo del Oro a few blocks away — a good companion visit for anyone interested in the visual culture of colonial Bogota. Small admission fee; closed Mondays.