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More than 3,100 meters above sea level, almost touching the clouds, rises the Cerro de Monserrate. There, rests the church of the fallen Lord and, right in front of it, hidden between a cobblestone road and, almost unnoticed, stands a century-old mansion that resists the passage of time.
To reach it you have to descend a pair of concrete steps, adorned with white railings from which, if you look out, you can see the heart of Monserrate: miles of lush vegetation.
Before the steps end, what looks like a two-story white palace timidly peeks out: the Casa Santa Clara. Built of wood and covered with small windows that surround it, for more than 40 years it has guarded Bogota from the heights.
But its history goes back more than 100 years, with Carlos Secundino Navarro Menéndez, one of the most important and wealthy landowners in Bogota at the time. His fortune was such that he was even compared to the likes of businessman José María Pepe Sierra and former minister Nemecio Camacho Macías.
Although the passage of time has made it almost impossible to know the exact origin of the Casa Santa Clara, there are two versions -one equally eccentric to Don Carlos Navarro- that have managed to preserve the memory of this Bogota mansion over the years.
From the City of Light to the Land of the Rolls
It is said that, with his fortune, Navarro not only traveled around Europe but also lived for some years in Paris (France). During his stay in the City of Light, it is believed that he fell in love with today's Casa Santa Clara and decided, without hesitation, to buy it and bring it by ship across the Atlantic Ocean to Bogota, the land of the rolos.
He said, "Pack me that house and I'll take it to Bogotá. He brought it by boat and arrived in Barranquilla. From Barranquilla it went up the Magdalena River to Honda (Tolima) and from Honda to Bogota they had to take it by mule because there were no roads, and it was located on Carrera 7 and 116th Street, at the foot of the Hacienda Santa Barbara," says Don Ariel Perez, who has worked in Santa Clara for the past...