The Vargas Swamp Lancers, also known as the Monumento a los Lanceros, honors the 14 soldiers who lost their lives in the Vargas Swamp Battle in July 1819. Over 100 feet high, the bronze sculpture depicts the soldiers, armed with nothing more than lances, who, under Simon Bolivar, held off the Spanish Army. Renowned Colombian artist Rodrigo Arenas Betancur designed the sculpture, which was dedicated in 1970 in Boyaca, a region in central Colombia, on the 150th anniversary of Colombian independence.
Vargas Swamp Lancers
Boyaca Department (province)
About 150 miles northeast of Bogota in central Andes highlands
Originally built in the 18th century, the Bridge of Boyaca was dedicated in 1920 as a national monument of independence. The bridge, which crosses the Teatinos River, is about 70 miles east of Bogota. Simon Bolivar's army faced Spanish troops at the bridge in 1819, and he captured nearly 1,600 royalist troops as they crossed the bridge. A monument to Bolivar can be seen at the bridge, and the Battle of Boyaca Day is celebrated each year on Aug. 7. The bridge is not open to traffic, but it remains a symbol of Colombian independence.
Puente de Boyaca
Boyaca Department (province)
About 70 miles east of Bogota and 9 miles west of Tunja
This 28-foot sculpture called Monumento al Esfuerzo, or the Monument to Effort, depicts peasants making their way to an unknown destination. Arenas Betancur designed the sculpture after being inspired by the painting "Horizontes," by antioquian artist Francisco Antonio Cano, who was inspired by the early inhabitants' desire to find settlements in their efforts to escape the country's civil wars. The monument was dedicated in Quindio in 1978.
Monument to Effort
Armenia town square
About 175 miles west of Bogota in north-central Quindio Department (province)
