Fodor's Expert Review Museo de Oro

Bogotá's phenomenal Gold Museum contains an astounding collection of pre-Hispanic Colombian artifacts, with more than 34,000 gold pieces (in weight alone worth $200 million) and more than 20,000 ceramics, textiles, and semiprecious stones. The pieces on display represent more than 2,500 years of civilizations including the Musica, Nariño, Calima, Tairona, and Siní. There are four permanent exhibitions that take visitors through ancient metallurgical technique and the ceremonial, political, and religious uses of gold in pre-Hispanic society, as well as providing insight into a culture informed by a unique mythology and cosmology. Most of the gold is in the guarded top-floor gallery, along with the largest uncut emerald in the world. All the exhibitions are bilingual, and free English tours are available Tuesday through Saturday at 11 am and 4 pm; entry to the museum is free on Sunday—and it gets crowded.