Florencia, the golden door to Amazonia

Florencia is a small and interesting town in which people can have fun spending time in

some places that are interesting for visitors. For instance, the petroglyphs “El Encanto” and

the Curiplaya Building.

Carved in stone at the site "El Encanto", on the left bank of the river Hacha, near the

Torasso district in Florence. The stone is located 1.5 kilometers from the center of

Florencia, on the grounds of Colegio Nacional La Salle, located 450 meters above sea level.

The petroglyphs are located at the bottom of the rock, they are made on two faces of the

same rock, those on the longer wall face northeast, on the other face, the engravings face

southwest. The engravings extend 16 meters in length by one meter in height, and they

form a great group in two faces.

The engraved stone of "El Encanto", is located in the lower part of the canyon of the Hacha

River; it is part of a rocky stratum that outcrops on the walls of the canyon on both margins

of the mentioned river, which cut it vertically. The bas-reliefs were made on the base of the

great rock that forms a natural shelter. At the present time, reaching the stone is very easy

and the place around the petroglyphs is very beautiful; although this part of the river is

frequented by fishermen, in general, the area is very lonely.

This place has a relevant archeological history since these petroglyphs were carved

approximately in the Neolithic 10.000 BC. Hence, it is important to learn about the story of

the region in order to have cultural background of the place in which people live. In

addition, visitors can see a wide variety of flora and fauna in the place near the petroglyphs.
On the other hand, the Curiplaya Building It is one of the oldest and most imposing

buildings in the municipality of Florencia and represents a great architectural, historical,

tourist and cultural value for the region. It has an acoustic shell, where great cultural events

such as the Festival El Colono de Oro are held annually. Currently it is the headquarters of

the Departmental Institute of Culture, Sports and Tourism, of the Mixed Craft Fund, craft

store, Municipal Public Library, among others.

The place where this building is located served as the headquarters of the rubber agency

"La Perdiz" in 1902 and as a municipal slaughterhouse. It was later bought by Caquetá

Police Station in 1945 to build the Curiplaya Hotel (meaning Golden Beach, in the huitoto

language). This construction was finished in the 50's by the architect Eduardo Ferreira.

In 1968 the Hotel was closed and became the headquarters of the radio station La Voz del

Caquetá; then it was the headquarters of the Florencia City Hall until 1986, when it served

as the headquarters of the judicial branch until 1995 when the City Hall ordered the

architectural remodeling of the building to turn it into the Palace of Culture and Arts of the

Amazon. It was declared a National Cultural Property by the Ministry of Culture, according

to resolution 1752 of 2000.

Visiting these places leads the visitors to understand and know the history of Florencia and

how the armed conflict affected this part of the region. There are many stories told by

elders Indians that now are carved in the stone and preserved in the museum as a part of the

regional history of our town. I hope you can visit Florencia and get surprised by the

diversity of this region.