St Francis Church and the Park of Santander: the places that have witnessed the fight for independence

Right in front of the Gold Museum is the Santander Square. It takes its name from the statue in the middle of it, Santander, a prominent figure of the independence movement. Across the street we see the St Francis Church, a brown, rectangular shape wide church, the oldest one in Bogota, built in the 16th century. It witnessed the fight for independence, starting from the 18th century, against the Spanish colonialism. The independence was declared in 1881 in Cartagena, under the leadership of Simon Bolivar, who later became president, his residence is located at the other side of La Candelaria, opposite the Colon Theatre. With the independence came the separation of Venezuela and Ecuador, and later Panama, which before then were part of Colombia.