Bogotá in paper and ink: six bookstores where stories also live in the streets

There are cities that are better understood as you walk with a book under your arm. Bogotá is one of them. In the midst of the accelerated pace of a large city, there are spaces that invite you to read and enjoy life in a quiet way.

Chapinero, Teusaquillo, Quinta Camacho and Zona G are places that have seen growing spaces where books are not only sold, but are celebrated. Libraries that are old houses, quiet corners, hidden courtyards and corners that, though modern, smell like history. The best: they're all very close to each other. The fortune is that you can visit them in any order, like who runs chapters without worrying about the number of pages.

For yes, Bogotá does not only walk through its bookstores. Beyond their doors, they share something in common: they are surrounded by streets with history. Walking them is seeing old balconies, brick facades, trees that seem to know your secrets. It seems that the stories in the books were also told in poetic graphitis and those corners that still keep that old city air. nostalgic. The places we recommend invite you to breathe slower and to let you be guided by that smell of paper and ink that escapes the doors of some of your most exquisite bookstores.

Willow 1047: the soul of a house turned into a book

Entering Wilborada 1047 is like crossing the cover of a good novel. In this house, located on 78th Street, in the middle of the G-zone and in the middle of houses that also look old and date back to 1943, it keeps intact its timber framed architecture (a constructive wooden system that is characterized by its intertwined walls), the books are elegantly located between corridors, internal bridges and in a courtyard where readers meet in a tertulia accompanied by a good coffee. His collection is over one hundred thousand copies and his curatorship evolves all the time: there are classical, contemporary literature, poetry, art, history and books for children and young people.

It is also a living house: every Thursday there are tertulias, pitches or talks; every Saturday, children's readings. Wilborada is that place you come in to look at and you end up staying hours. If you want to know the variety of books and activities that this magical world offers, just enter wilborada1047. com and find out all the details.

The Fire Valija: literature as provocation

A few blocks away, La Valija de Fuego, located on the avenue 7a # 45-53 - two blocks from Javeriana University - does not walk around: it is an intellectual shelter for readers who seek voices that uncomfortable, shake, open new ways of thinking. Its catalogue goes far beyond commercial: here they live texts on erotism, philosophy, science fiction, cinema, poetry, LGBTIQ + literature and much more.

Each of its walls is covered by hundreds of thousands of books that look at you with a desire to be read. They have more than a thousand carefully selected titles, a bet on diversity and inclusion. It is common for a conversation to arise between shelves and for time to pass without notice. Ideal to have a coffee, stay and read for a while, buy one or more books and go out with a different mind.

Just enter your Instagram @ lavender fire and know all the copies you have for you.

Quevedo Books and Antiques: when time stops between shelves

In the heart of Chapinero, in the 11 # 67-24 race, a bookstore with more than 45 years of history preserves more than 150,000 used books, ancient works, first editions and true literary jewels. Quevedo Books and Antiques is a place to search without haste, to immerse in the past through the smell of the pages and covers worn out over the years.

One of its walls is literally full of books that may be over a hundred years old. Or that tells us Andrés Fuentes, the third of the generation to continue with this literary legacy. Some of the copies date back to the 19th century; others were published in printers that no longer exist. There's no rush here. It is possible to find Colombian literature, essay, history, philosophy, biographies, art and unexpected treasures. There is also room for cultural meetings, workshops and conversations that feel at home.

This bookstore was able to combine antiquity with modern. So, if you want good literary recommendations, know the activities and learn about everything you have to offer, enter Instagram @ libreriaquevedo and progress.

San Librario: the corner where time stopped (for good)

Since 1998, in a corner of Quinta Camacho (on the street 70 # 12-40), San Librario has kept what is no longer printed. Books with history. Books that survived the passage of time and now rest on shelves full of nostalgia. Here, each title is one age: many are over a hundred years old. Some were published in the early 20th century; others were published even in the 19th century.

One of its partners is Alvaro Castillo Granada: a bookseller, writer, editor and Colombian bibliophile, recognized for his deep love of books and for his careful look at the profession of preserving them. Under this sensitivity, he and San Librario offer a catalogue as valuable as it is emotional: first editions, texts signed by authors, discatalogued works and literary rarity and spaces to share good reflections on the books, because, as Alvaro himself assures, in this bookstore each copy hopes to be found by that reader who wants to know the story from another perspective.

More than a place of sale, this bookstore is a meeting space, where books are delivered as gifts. Whoever comes in, comes out transformed. This is always highlighted on their social networks @ sanlibrario where every person who enters looking for something finds gold transformed into pages.

Scatter Books: books with affection, stories with care

Garabato is a young bookstore with free spirit. Located in race 19 # 34-61 (or at its other headquarters in race 11 # 67-24). Their selection is as well taken care of as affectionate: Latin American literature, political texts, philosophy, poetry, books of independent editorials and emerging authors, but above all illustrated books, because from here came the idea: to have a bookstore where you will find texts for all kinds of public and all characteristics. It easily surpasses the 100 thousand copies on display, with a catalogue that bets on what few dare to publish.

The space is intimate, close, where the staff who care for you always have the precise recommendation. But Garabato is not only books: it is also cinema, presentations, DJ sessions, workshops and even reading out loud. It is a complete cultural experience where art and word embrace. Each visit can end in conversation, reflection or even dancing.

Everything this bookstore has for you you can find in scribble. com

Tornamesa: when culture sounds in vinyl

And if something has Bogotá, it's his ability to mix worlds. Tornamesa shows this: two places where books, tornamenas, author's films and vinyl live together in harmony and happiness. One of its headquarters is located at 70 # 5-23 and the other, at the Centro Comercial Avenida Chile (72 # 10-34 street).

Tornamesa has become an oasis for those who love culture in all its forms. Since 2010, it offers a space where books - more than 30,000 titles in their general catalogue - can be discovered in their anaquels. Its first seat is a traditional bogotan house that looks, with sobriety, the charm of wood, warm light and its infinite shelves.

Each wall is lined with new books, national and international editorials, accompanied by disks that can be heard while you look at pages. The cultural agenda is always on the move: there are intimate concerts, readings, recitals and guest DJs. Tornamesa is not only visited: it is lived.

If you want to know this world between literature and music, do not forget to enter tornamena.co and let you be surprised by this fusion of cultural spaces.

For more information on plans, destinations and events, see www.visitbogota.co And don't forget to download the free 'Visit Bogotá' app on your cell phone.