Deep History
Considering the city’s tumultuous history, Medellín is incredibly full of 21st-century optimism. Its complicated past is not as black and white as you may have heard and has actually divided locals in their opinions. And so much has changed in just a couple decades. The city was declared by Time magazine in 1988 “the most dangerous city in the world.” In 2013, though? The Wall Street Journal called it “the most innovative metropolis on the planet. And visiting for myself, I can definitely see why. The city is the second largest in Colombia after Bogotá but it is overflowing with a variety of activities for any traveler. Its cosmopolitan feel is supplemented with an oasis of nature right in the city center - the Botanical Garden - and Park Arví, which sits at the top of the hillside and is accessible by Metrocable. And the local attitude towards tourists is hugely different than what you find in Cartagena. The locals’ genuine welcoming of foreigners was refreshing and a true testament to how the city’s past has and continues to fuel it forwards.
We landed in Medellín in the evening and drove through the mountains in the dark, looking down at the city dotted in lights. It was an incredible view and got us excited to explore the next morning. We stayed in the trendy El Poblado neighborhood, which is full of cool cafes to try the world-famous Colombia coffee, and you can bet I started my morning with some. We then made our way over to the El Poblado metro station, where our free walking tour with Real City Tours started. The weather was much milder than in Cartagena, so we were able to actually enjoy walking around for three hours and really get a feel for the city. Our tour guide told us lots of stories about the city’s history as well as her own experience growing up there. She told us both the good and the bad — something she said not all the locals loved. Sometimes, she would have people come up to her and listen in to see what she was telling the tourists, or start yelling at her for what she was sharing. It didn’t happen on our tour, but I could see why it could: some people were desperate to leave the past behind, to forget the terrible things that had happened there.
Plaza of Lights
On our walking tour, we got to see the Plaza of Lights (Plaza Cisneros). The Plaza of Lights is made up of 300 light poles which light up after dark. It’s also an example of the democratic architecture of Medellín that played a huge role in redefing the city even in the eyes of the locals. The Plaza of Lights was once a place of drugs and violence, and is not only safer for sightseeing these days but has a library where locals were encouraged to go study or work — this slowly helped change the plaza’s reputation. We then walked through the city center (El Centro) and hit Plaza Botero downtown, decorated with 23 bronze sculptures from the sculptor Fernando Botero.
He liked to create larger-than-life figures so each sculpture is somehow disproportionate. Pro tip: take the metro to the Parque Berrio station if you want to walk around Plaza Botero, which is located in the city’s “old quarter.” Museo de Antioquia has more of his work among other famous Latin American artists, and entrance is free!
After the walking tour, we went over to the Joaquín Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden. It’s an amazing piece of calm right in the city center and is completely free. We grabbed lunch there and admired the nature on our walk through the garden after. By then it was late afternoon, and we knew we wanted to fit in a ride on Medellín’s Metrocable before the sun set. The Metrocable is a truly impressive transport system - with its several lines, it stretches from the city to the residential areas on the hillsides. Looking down over the houses and smaller towns as you ride the Metrocable up, you really get a feel for the different areas of the city. One thing I found particularly cool were painted rooftops of the shantytowns. What’s neat is while you can take one of the lines to Park Arví and get off and walk around, you can also just sit on the Metrocable and ride it up and down for the view.
The next morning we met at the San Javier metro station for a Comuna 13 Tour. Comuna 13 used to be Medellín’s most dangerous neighborhood, but it is quickly becoming a must-see stop for tourists. With its graffiti-filled streets and an impressive system of open-air escalators, Comuna 13 is getting turned around from a place of heavy crime to one of community pride. Pro tip: the neighborhood is definitely worth seeing with its colorful murals that reflect its tough past and offer hope for the future, but it’s best to go during the day with an English-speaking guide. Not only is it safer, but you’ll get more out of the experience: the neighborhood is full of winding little alleys you can get lost in, and there are stories and explanations behind the painted murals that only a guide can offer you.
Our Comuna 13 guide was also a local who had grown up there. At the end of the tour, she took us to her family’s house (@fonda.familia13), where we were welcomed by her mother and sisters with a local snack. We gathered round in the chairs lining the outdoor section that was fabulously decorated and listened to her tell her story. It was heart-wrenching and poignant — we heard about her losing her cousin, the local kids turning into guerillas, how helicopters shot at her house when she was twenty. She told us she used to be ashamed of the fact that she was from Comuna 13 but now that she was proud and wants to share her neighborhood and life with us.
Hearing from locals about their personal experiences through the decades in this city was truly an experience in itself. And the optimistic attitude I experienced from the tour guides was really a widespread phenomenon of Medellín. The locals’ drive to improve their city and desire to want to share it with the world was really incredible to witness. The city’s past is so deep-rooted in the locals, and they recognize that it’s important to remember it, to not forget what happened, and to do better. Not only are the locals part of the different eras — the tragedy, the resurrection — but we tourists are as well. We are equally a part of the new Medellín. Our tour guides spoke of how it’s up to us who visit their country to be their voice in the world. To break the stigma surrounding Medellín, because Colombia is more than just what has defined its past. And that isn’t to say everything is perfect there — the locals are well aware of the country’s imperfections and we must be too. But it is equally important to open our eyes and see what these incredibly strong people and their city have to offer.