Emerald Gemstone Tour

Description

Discover the world of gemstones and the highest quality emeralds in the world. Colombian emeralds are famous for their beauty and considered an essential part of the cultural and geological heritage. The Emerald Gemstone Tour invites you to discover the processes of mining, production and stone carving while touring the main emerald trade center located in La Candelaria (the oldest neighborhood of Bogotá). You will visit several places where you'll find unique rough stones, sculptures, and elegant jewelry designs, showcasing how Colombian emeralds are exceptional for their color, brightness, purity, and size.

You will start your trip at Parque Santander, where you can see several landmark buildings of Bogotá, including the former building of  El Tiempo newspaper, the Bank of the Republic, the Gold Museum and the churches of San Francisco, La Veracruz and La Tercera. There, you will travel up to the 23rd floor of the Avianca Building, an architectural landmark of contemporary Bogotá, to enter Museo Internacional de la Esmeralda, where you will visit a 27 square meter tunnel with samples of the emerald deposits and real veins extracted from the mines of Boyacá. Here you will be able to appreciate the process of working with emeralds, from its extraction in the mines to carving and handcrafting of jewelry, which you will see at the museum workshop. The collection exhibits unique emeralds from Colombia such as the Fuego Verde (Green Fire) and Trapiche emerald, known for being shaped like a star.

After, you will walk to Carrera Séptima and Avenida Jimenez, the center of the emerald market in town. Your path towards the Plazoleta del Rosario will let you know street vendors who buy and sell emeralds as a daily job. However, it is important to remark the importance of not supporting these street market and acquiring stones at authorized and reliable stores. This route will take you to the Eje Ambiental, the commercial center for emeralds with the most significant number of organized stores in Bogotá. Then, you will enter the Emerald Trade Center, a building with local and export business offices.

Last but not least, you will walk to La Candelaria, to finish your tour at ‘Galería de Artesanías y Esmeraldas de Colombia’, where you will drink a cup of Colombian coffee, and enjoy crafts from all over the country. There you will discover the jewelry making out of emeralds and learn how to recognize original stones and their value according to their color, and carat weight.