All About the Sculptures of Plaza Botero

TLDR? Fernando Botero donated 23 sculptures to Plaza Botero!

Medellin is a city recognized for offering dozens of tourist attractions, including a lot of art, culture, and spaces for its development.

In addition, this city has been the birthplace of several renowned artists. Not only Juanes and J Balvin prospered here, but some paisa painters and sculptors have traveled the world with their works.

Surely you’ve heard of Fernando Botero or seen some of his works, those paintings or sculptures represented with fat characters.

Well, in the City of Eternal Spring, you can find his works in different places, especially in Plaza Botero, as the name might suggest.

Continue reading and find out everything about this site!

The Work of Fernando Botero

Botero’s a figurative artist and sculptor born in Medellin, credited with creating what’s known as Boterismo. It’s a method that tries to represent everyday life through characters with large figures.

This artist has ceded some of his works to cultural sites in Medellin and Bogota. These amount to 114 paintings, oils, watercolors, and drawings. He also donated 21 pieces by international artists from his collection to the Museum of Antioquia in 2000.

Along with this donation, Botero delivered 23 sculptures you can find today in the Plaza Botero, the door to the museum of Antioquia and one of the main tourist and cultural attractions of Medellín. 

Botero’s relationship with Medellin is similar to Gaudi’s in Barcelona.

Plaza Botero

If you search for images of Medellin on Google, you’ll most likely find photos of an old building with a checkered facade and the Metro, the city’s flagship means of transportation, crossing one of its lanes.

Plaza Botero is in the lower part of this famous image, which is taken from many angles and has many versions.

This square, also known as an open-air museum, is an unmissable place on a visit to Medellin. In addition to being in the city’s heart, it’ll tell you a brief history of what this capital of Antioquia has been through art and culture.

A Little History 

Plaza Botero was born as an initiative to rescue what was the Museum of Antioquia some 20 years ago when Botero promised to donate some of his works and improve it.

When the Museum of Antioquia moved to what was the Municipal Palace, several buildings came down so that they wouldn’t cover the museum’s facade. Plaza Botero was built in their place.

They added the 23 sculptures of the well-known fat Botero characters between 2000 and 2001. You can also find palm trees, trees, and plants that give a charm to the place.

How to Get to the Square

The easiest, fastest, and most economical option is to get through the Metro System to the Parque Berrio station, then walk approximately 5 minutes.

It’s also easily accessible for public transport buses, taxis, and private transport hired specifically or through an App, since it’s a strategic location in the city where you find places such as:

• Museo de Antioquia
• Palacio de Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe
• Hotel Nutibara 
• Parque Berrio 
• Edificio Coltejer 

The Sculptures

What draws the most attention to these 23 sculptures is the voluminous nature of the characters.

Best of all, the artist invites visitors to touch his works and approach them as interactive art. Also, taking photos with your favorite figures will always be a good memory of this place in Medellin!

A curious and fun fact is that you’ll be able to see some naked characters with the intimate areas a little discolored. Some even choose to take the touch a little further!

Here’s a list of the figures in Plaza Botero:

• Maternity
• Woman with fruit
• Woman with mirror
• Walking man
• Sit woman
• Reclining woman
• Man on Horse
• Roman soldier
• Dressed man
• Hand
• Head
• Thought
• Adam
• Eve
• Horse
• Dog
• Cat
• Sphinx
• Abduction of Europe
• Horse with bridle
• Dressed woman
• Dressed man
• Venus dominates

You can also find all kinds of shops: typical street food, informal vendors offering souvenirs, and photographers selling instant photos!

Although it’s a safe place and highly guarded by public security, it’s always better to be careful and keep your personal belongings under your supervision.

The Museum of Antioquia

We can’t talk about Plaza Botero without mentioning the Museum of Antioquia, for which they built the Plaza.

The most important museum in the city has one of the largest collections of this artist that exhibited his works in Barcelona, ​​Japan, Paris, and other corners of the world.

Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture

Nor could we leave aside this beautiful building that makes up the Plaza Botero. In the past, it operated as the Government of Antioquia; today, it serves as the departmental historical archive and is free to enter.

This palace is undoubtedly one of Medellin’s most architecturally and historically striking.

Visit Plaza Botero

Plaza Botero’s one of the most iconic places in Medellin. It contains a lot of history, art, and culture amidst emblematic sites in the city.

Visit this space full of the works of the Antioquian master Fernando Botero and enjoy spending time in the city’s heart!

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