The Plaza de Bolívar, located in the historic center of Bogotá, is the main square of the city and of Colombia. Located between the Seventh and Eighth careers, and Tenth and Eleventh streets, it is surrounded by important buildings: to the north, the Palace of Justice; to the south, the National Capitol; to the east, the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Bogota, the House of the Ecclesiastical Chapter, the Chapel of the Tabernacle and the Archbishop's Palace; to the west, the Liévano Palace, headquarters of the Mayor's Office, and to the southeast, the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé. It was declared a National Monument in 1995, after being proposed in 1994.

A study by the Universidad de los Andes establishes that the plaza has an area of 13,903 m² (including the surrounding streets) and a maximum capacity of 55,612 people.

In its beginnings, the plaza was surrounded by colonial houses and functioned as a market, where farmers sold their products. Designed by the Spanish colonizers, it housed a wooden column in its center, which served as a pillory and symbolized the power of the king of Spain. In 1583, it was replaced by a public fountain, improved in 1681, known as the "monkey of the pile", today exhibited in the Museum of Colonial Art. The only colonial construction that still remains is the Sagrario Chapel.

After independence, it began to be called Plaza de la Constitución in 1821, although the name Plaza Mayor continued to be popularly used. In 1846, Congress ordered the placement of a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar in the center of the square, donated by José Ignacio París and designed by Pietro Tenerani. This marked its renaming as Plaza de Bolívar.

In 1861, activities such as markets and bullfights were prohibited. In 1880, the statue of Bolívar was placed on a new pedestal and its orientation changed. In 1927, fountains and a higher pedestal were installed, culminating in 1929. The most significant reforms occurred in 1960 for the sesquicentennial of the independence, configuring its current design, mainly oriented to pedestrian use. The inauguration of this new configuration took place in 1961 by President Alberto Lleras Camargo.

On the north side is the Palace of Justice, whose history is marked by tragic events such as the fire during the Bogotazo of 1948 and the seizure of the building by the M-19 in 1985. On the south side is the National Capitol, seat of Congress, whose construction began in 1848 and ended in 1926 after several setbacks.

On the western side, the Liévano Palace, designed in French Renaissance style by Gaston Lelarge, is the seat of the Mayor's Office. This building replaced the Galerías Arrubla, destroyed by fire in 1900.

On the eastern side is the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica, built between 1807 and 1823, next to the seventeenth century Sagrario Chapel and the Archbishop's Palace, built between 1952 and 1959 to replace the original destroyed in the Bogotazo.

In the northeast corner is located the Casa del Florero, home of the Museum of July 20, where the Cry of Independence originated in 1810. In the southeast corner, the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, founded by the Jesuits in 1604, includes the Camilo Torres square, a historic place where revolutionaries were executed during the Spanish reconquest.