The paradox of a historic monument: the demolition of the old convent of Santo Domingo in Santafé de Bogotá, 1939-1947.

Abstract

In 1939’s Bogotá, the old Convent of Santo Domingo, erected in the 16th centuryand occupied from the 19th century on by the Mailing and Telegraphs Office andother official dependencies, was one of the last representative buildings that had beenpart of the “infrastructure of the religion” of the colonial city. This text is centeredin corroborating if the convent was an emblematic element of an era, a society andan architectural typology, conditions that could have guaranteed its permanence asa historic monument and not as paradoxically occurred, that all these conditionscontributed to advocate for its demolition.

Keywords: convent of Santo Domingo, historic monument, Bogotá, demolition