The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1921-05-19
THE ANTHEMS OF SOUTH
AMERICA

Gonzalo Jiminez de Quesada and his war
ring hosts christened the Andean plateau
was Santa Fe. To that nobleman nothing
seemed more fitting than to give to the
birthplace-that classic Santa Fe founded
upon royal command of Ferdinad and
Isabella opposite the opulent Granada,
to vex the multitude of hereto Moham-
medans who aroused the jealousy and re-
sentiment of the Spanish by their festas
and tuorneys.
And what thrill the conquistador must
have felt, yet what homesickness must
have been awakened within him as he
gazed upon plain watched over by two
somber hills, so like that of his own land,
with the Moorish Granada guarding the
Castillian city, writes w. F. Anzola Sam
per in the Bulletin of the Pan American
Unino. But the Valley of Castles (Valle
de los Alcazares), the Teuscaquillo or
recreation spot of Zipa de Bacata, its
rightful possessor, was renamed by the
new lords in mail and gorget. Bacata
fled, abandoning his dominion, to die in
the heart of the forest; never knowing
that after centuries justice should be paid
him; that the every noble and loyal city"
should bear his name, slightly modified.
Bogota, the intellectual and cultured
capital city, molder of thought, home of
savants and thinkers, is a metropolis
which, while it can offer no startling dis
play, claims attention by reason of the
gifts with which nature endowed it.
Spring is there eternal; the climate. is
ideal; the fertility of the soil surrounding
is extraordinary.
Bogota conserves vestiges of her colonial
period Over the portals of rambling old
houses which defed the ages are to be
seen coats of arms. The century-old
churches, venerable relics of the past,
guard beneath panels of gold and costly
wood collections of mastery paintings;
Byzantine cornices of arabesque designs
abut the granite pilasters which support
arches, and under dais of wrought gold
and silver the choir lofts are to be seen.
On the other hand, the tendency toward
twentieth century building is irresistible,
and the most pp-to-date talent is displayed
in the erection of luxurious homes or pub
lie buildings in Bogota today.
The capital situated on the southern
side of the Plaza de Bolivar, resembles
the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, and
is considered one of the best stone edifces
in South America.
Along the entire western side of the
plaza extends buildings uniformly of pure
French style, and along the northern side
modern buildings occupied by banks and
commercial houses; on the eastern side is
the cathedral.
From the Plaza de Bolivar the main
thoroughfares extend in every direction,
almost all paved with asphalt and kept
in excellent condition by the municipality.
Gale Real, the principal business street,
and Florian street are the most bustling
of the city. The former, wide thorough
fare merges into Republic avenue (Aven-
ida de la Republican,, Aanked by modern
buildings and traversed by electric cars.
The Colombian capital has long been
the patron of science. The astronomical
observatory, National Library, the acade
mics, museums and universities form
group of institutions which maintain the
right of Bogota to be considered the
"Anthens of the South" the name with
which European scholar christened her.
The observatory owes its existence to
the efforts of the naturalist, Jose Celestino
Mutiz. 1t is octagonal in form, 1856
meters above sea level; hence, is one of
the highest of the world and possesses
valuable set of instruments for taking OBJ
servations.