Boquerón of the San Francisco River

One of the postcards that characterized Bogota’s landscape of the nineteenth century was the Boquerón, a place where the hills of Monserrate and Guadalupe meet. This natural opening was known as the Boquerón del Río San Francisco. 

This river as well as the San Agustín River, was an important source of water for the city. It also served as a drainage system for the people of the capital. 

The river was known for its great depth and for having fairly wide banks due to erosion caused by logging.

This element can be seen in the picture, where the path on the south side, which should reach the Quinta de Bolivar, is far from the other side. The depth is such that the river cannot be seen. 

For this reason it was necessary to build bridges along the river to cross it. 

The painting by Ramón Torres Méndez (1809-1885) shows, in the background, the façade of the Quinta de Bolívar, located between the two hills. 

You can see a long, horizontal, bone-colored wall with a red baseboard, just as the one it can be seen today. 

The work shows the surroundings of the Quinta, which by the mid-19th century was still occupied by other quintas, such as the one on the right side, which today corresponds to the grounds of the Universidad de los Andes.   

Although the landscape is the protagonist of the painting, the author does not leave aside his classic costumbrista look, which is developed, in this case, in an environment where the urban and the rural coexist.