The Plaza Mayor is the reason most people come to Villa de Leyva, and it lives up to the billing. One of the largest cobblestone plazas in South America — 120 metres on a side — it is surrounded on all four sides by whitewashed colonial buildings with terracotta roofs, and in the centre stands a stone cross from the 17th century. The ensemble has changed remarkably little since the colonial period.
The plaza is at its best in the early morning and at dusk, when the light is soft and the crowds have thinned. On Saturdays a market fills the square with vendors selling local produce and crafts. On holiday weekends it fills with thousands of Colombians who have made the three-hour drive from Bogotá to enjoy the colonial atmosphere and the thin, cool Andean air.