Bogotá
— — the city the clouds sit down on.
Not only on a wall.
“The capital sits on a plateau 2,640 metres above the sea, with the green wall of Monserrate rising at its back. Mornings come in cool and grey, then the light breaks across the brick of La Candelaria, the colonial quarter where the Plaza de Bolívar holds the centre. Tinto coffee passes hand to hand on every corner. By afternoon the rain has usually come and gone. from the studio
Bogotá, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Bogotá is the capital of Colombia, set on the Sabana de Bogotá plateau at roughly 2,640 metres in the Eastern Andes. The metropolitan area holds about 8 million people, making it the country's largest city and the third-highest capital in South America. It was founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1538 on the territory of the Muisca people. The historic core, La Candelaria, anchors the old colonial grid below the twin peaks of Monserrate and Guadalupe, which together mark the city's eastern skyline above the Sabana.
The altitude sets the rhythm. At 2,640 metres, atmospheric pressure runs about 25 percent below sea level, and visitors often arrive short of breath. The climate is cool and even — averages hold near 14°C across the year, with no real summer or winter, only a rainy season that softens April and October. The Andean light is sharp on clear afternoons; by evening a soft grey settles on the cordillera and works its way down across the rooflines of Chapinero and the south. Locals call the noon sun the only summer Bogotá ever has.
Most travellers begin in La Candelaria, where the Museo del Oro holds roughly 55,000 pre-Hispanic gold objects, the largest such collection in the world. The Cerro de Monserrate rises to 3,152 metres and is reached by funicular, cable car, or a pilgrim footpath up the eastern face. On Sundays the Ciclovía closes more than 120 kilometres of city streets to cars from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Paloquemao market opens before dawn for flowers, coffee, and lulo fruit, and the smell of arepas comes off every corner griddle by sunrise.