Two stories that start in Villa de Leyva

One of the stories that people in Villa de Leyva tell with pride is that of the peasant farmer who tilled his soil every day, and one day in June 1977 he turned up  an enormous rock which he cleaned down  and found that it looked like a fossil. A group of archaeologists came in, and started to excavate and restore the remains: and the local community decided to build a museum around the results, called “El fósil”.

In ancient times, the site of Villa de Leyva was under waters that disappeared as the Andes mountains rose up.

This stone saurian is similar to one found in Australia, and the body (without the tail) is 8m (27ft) long is known as the Kronosaurus. He is one of Boyacá´s most popular attractions – unique and very large –on of the largest ever found in Colombia.

But the true story  of the magic village is hidden in the myth of Bachué, who (it is said) came out of Iguaque lake with a child in his arms and went to hide in the woods, waiting until the child grew up, and populated the Earth. And when Bachué had completed his mission, he returned to the waters of Iguaque to sleep to eternity.