By Soren Rivero
As the cloudy season is mid-way in Colombia, you know it's about that spooky time of year. What better way to celebrate Halloween than ghost hunting in Colombia? Here are 5 haunted places in Colombia you should visit if you have a knack for all things scary.
Photo Credit: Cuauhtemoc Sanchez Fernandez (Wikimedia)
The Casa Sámano Museum
This museum is located right on the southern edge of Bogotá’s urban center on a narrow, almost hidden, street. It was formerly the house of the Viceroy of New Granada, Juan Sámano– an important military officer in the 1800s during the War of Independence in Colombia. The museum itself has almost nothing to do with his life, despite his importance, but rather focuses on urban and community development.
The ghost of Samano still apparently wreaks havoc on the building and has supposedly been encountered dozens of times by guards and visitors. His attempts to haunt the living are just as vile as his actions during his time here on earth. Samano was known to spit on and belittle those who were below him, and as a ghost he is presumed to be the cause of random spitting and eerie footsteps echoing throughout the building.
Photo Credit: ArturoAparicio (Wikimedia)
Hotel del Salto
Hotel del Salto is one of the more well-known haunted places in Colombia, and also the most beautiful. It was built back in 1923 and dedicated to its talented architect, Carlos Arturo Tapias. The hotel would then see drastic changes as it went from personal home to party venue and then finally opening up as a hotel in the 1950s. Business failed in the next coming decades due to economic recession, in addition to the building physically deteriorating from pollution in the Bogota River.
What makes this a haunted place in Colombia is sad and rather peculiar. The hotel is located on Tequendama Falls. During the Spanish invasion in Colombia, local people would jump off this cliff to escape the conquistadors. Despite decades passing, the grim history still haunts this cliffside museum to this day. While the Hotel del Salto was still accepting residents, countless visitors would leap to their death from windows. In one case, a guest was murdered at the hotel after the victim’s attackers were manipulated by the dark energy surrounding the falls.
Photo Credit: Martinduquea (Wikimedia)
Silva House of Poetry
Whereas Edgar Allen Poe’s work might cast you in fear, this next attraction’s history will bring you to tears. This museum in Bogotá was the previous home to the incredibly famous Colombian poet, José Asunción Silva. Unfortunately, Silva’s success as a poet was overshadowed by his extremely distressed life. He lost many people (including his partner and sister) during his youth, went bankrupt, and lost some of his most important manuscripts in the sea.
Silva’s ghost haunts the building as that is not only where he lived, but also where he died. The building is known as the ‘house of whispers’ as visitors have frequently reported hearing whispers while walking around. Even more interesting is that the building carries the tormented poet’s agony, even after all these years. Visitors say they feel incredibly melancholic while in the building, with some even crying upon walking in.
Armero
Armero was previously a quaint and quiet town in the Tolima department of Colombia. It is now arguably the most haunted place in Colombia after a very unfortunate event.
On the night of November 13, 1985, the nearby Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted after almost 70 years of inactivity, burying the town’s population of 25,000+. This is the fate known as the Armero Tragedy. The remnants of which are now referred to as the “Town of 30,000 Ghosts.” Locals and tourists who pay a visit here are blasted by the gruesome sounds of ghosts lamenting and wailing. The ghosts don’t seem concerned with haunting the living, but rather seem to search for some sense of relief. Regardless, it is an exceptionally frightful place to visit.
Photo Credit: Nelsonc (Wikimedia)
Central Cemetery of Bogotá
If Armero was the most haunted place in Colombia, the Central Cemetery of Bogotá is the runner-up. What separates the two is not the population of lost souls that wander these two attractions, but rather, the intensity of horror.
The Central Cemetery of Bogotá is the oldest of its kind. Thus, it's quite easy to assume that it has a large crowd of ghastly residents haunting its grounds. It also houses the bodies of a great deal of Colombia’s most famous people – including artists, politicians, poets, and even some presidents. Paranormal encounters are not unusual when visiting this cemetery, but regardless, there is an inherently spooky atmosphere characterized by frightening bronze statues, worn-down graves, a spiral staircase leading to an underground tomb, and the almost-hellish gates. There’s even a sign at the very front of the cemetery that states “We await the resurrection of the dead.”
Are you brave enough to visit any of these haunted locations in Colombia?
