• Description
  • How to get there
  • Multimedia

🎧 Audio guide

Samper Mendoza Market 

Dating back to 1935 when it first operated as Plaza del Nordeste, the Samper Mendoza Market is a living space blending history, rural farming traditions, and intangible cultural heritage. Located in the Los Mártires district in central-western Bogotá, the site evolved from a grain warehouse and materials depot into a parking lot before establishing itself as the city’s premier hub for aromatic, medicinal, and esoteric herbs.

Every Monday and Thursday night, nearly 500 local farmers gather for the night market, bringing more than 290 varieties of ancestral plants and herbs from across Colombia. The market also serves as a major wholesale supplier of tamal leaves, botanical ingredients for traditional practices, natural remedies, herbal infusions, and plants used for rituals, home decor, and aromatherapy.

Far more than a marketplace, Samper Mendoza is a cultural stage celebrating ancestral wisdom, scents, flavors, and rituals. The crisp night air helps preserve the botanicals as travelers, chefs, herbalists, and holistic shops stock up, turning this nocturnal market into an extraordinary sensory experience.

📍 How to get there

Samper Mendoza Market is renowned for its variety of medicinal herbs and fresh produce, making it a popular spot for locals and visitors. Its strategic location near Avenida Caracas and Avenida 19 provides easy access.

  • By car: Head towards west-central Bogotá on Avenida 19 or Carrera 24, then take Carrera 25 to Calle 22, where the plaza is located. Parking is available nearby.
  • By TransMilenio: The nearest station is CAD, located on the Calle 26 trunk line. From there, walk south to Calle 22 and turn onto Carrera 25 to reach the market entrance.
  • By SITP: Several bus routes run along Avenida Caracas and Avenida 19, with stops near Carrera 25, providing direct access to the market.

Venue video

An older woman with white hair, wearing a pink blouse and a blue and white checkered apron, stands at a market stall. She is surrounded by large piles of herbs and green plants, suggesting a stall selling botanical or medicinal products. The woman looks directly at the camera with a friendly expression. The dark background reveals an industrial-style roof structure with hanging lights, typical of a covered market. In this photograph, a white and brown tabby cat is the center of attention, sitting upright on a white counter and looking directly at the camera. Behind the cat, to the right, a young man in a black cap and dark jacket, wearing a T-shirt with the word "STEVEN," sits and gestures. To the left, a hand reaches across the counter. The background features shelves filled with products and items, suggesting that it is a shop or grocery store. The image shows a dark, narrow aisle in a market or warehouse, flanked by immense piles of dried or fresh herbs and green leaves, stacked almost to the ceiling. A man with his back to the camera, wearing a gray shirt and dark trousers, walks down the center of the aisle, carrying a bundle of herbs. The floor is covered with loose leaves and debris, and the walls have closed roller shutters, suggesting that the stalls are closed or being cleaned. This is a bird's-eye view of a small glass containing a pale green beverage, decorated with a sprig of rosemary and two orange petals or peels shaped like crescent moons. The glass rests on a small square piece of burlap, which in turn sits on a white wooden surface. The lighting creates a soft shadow beneath the glass and the coaster.