Travel Guide Tierradentro

Nestled at the bottom of an isolated valley, Tierradentro contains what constitutes one of the major archaeological treasures of Colombia: the largest group of pre-Columbian funerary sites in the country. The site was declared cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 1995. The region is inhabited by the Paece indigenous people, who occupied it long before the arrival of the Spaniards, to whom they opposed a fierce resistance, which earned the region the name of Tierradentro (Land of the Interior). The surrounding mountains are fertile, much to the delight of the inhabitants, who grow bananas, oranges, manioc and coffee. San Andrés de Pisimbalá is the closest village to the archaeological site. It is a resguardo indígena, territory of the indigenous Paece (also called Nasa). On the neighboring plateaus, picturesque villages (including Inzá) testify to the will of these peoples to safeguard their identity and cultural traditions. The village buildings, all simple, with whitewashed walls and thatched roofs, seem to exist outside of time. The village church, the Templo Doctrinero, dating from the 17th century and inspired by traditional indigenous architecture with a beautiful straw roof, had been ravaged by fires in 1975 and again in 2013. It was beautifully rebuilt in 2018. In the adjacent square, there are occasional performances for the community.