Villa de Leyva, Colombia, is located in the Colombian Eastern Cordillera, in the department of Boyacá and, according to the Muisca denomination, in the Alto Valle de Saquencipá.
This town has an incredible historical, cultural and natural heritage, and it is considered one of the most beautiful towns in Colombia.
Villa de Leyva was declared a national monument in 1954 because of its architecture, its museums, the traditions of its inhabitants and its history. Since the beginning of the XXI century, it became part of the Network of heritage towns of Colombia.
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Villa de Leyva’s Fossil Heritage
The area surrounding Villa de Leyva was submerged beneath a shallow tropical sea during the Cretaceous period, approximately 110-130 million years ago. When these ancient seabeds were uplifted by Andean tectonic forces, they preserved an extraordinary fossil record of marine reptiles, ammonites, and other organisms that lived in those warm waters.
The most famous discovery is the Kronosaurus boyacensis — a massive marine reptile measuring over 7 meters in length, now displayed in situ at the El Fósil museum just outside town. This pliosaur was one of the apex predators of the Cretaceous seas, and the Villa de Leyva specimen is among the most complete ever found in South America.
Fossil Sites to Visit
The El Fósil museum houses the Kronosaurus in the position it was discovered, protected under a simple roof that allows visitors to appreciate both the fossil and its geological context. The Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas (CIP) displays a broader collection including ichthyosaurs, ammonites of various sizes, and reconstructions of the Cretaceous marine ecosystem.
Walking through the surrounding desert-like landscape — remarkably similar to the terrain around Colombia’s actual deserts — visitors can spot ammonite fragments embedded in the exposed rock formations. These finds are protected by law, and collecting is prohibited.
Combining Fossils with Nature
A fossil trip pairs naturally with other nature activities around Villa de Leyva. The Iguaque Sanctuary offers páramo hiking to a sacred lagoon. The town itself is one of Colombia’s heritage towns, with colonial architecture perfectly preserved around South America’s largest town square. The surrounding Boyacá department offers Monguí and its spectacular Ocetá páramo as an extension.
What Fossils Will You Find?
The Villa de Leyva region preserves an extraordinary record of Cretaceous marine life from approximately 130-110 million years ago, when this high Andean valley lay beneath a shallow tropical sea. The most spectacular specimens are the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs — marine reptiles that reached lengths of 10 meters or more. The town’s paleontological museum displays several complete specimens, including a kronosaurus that ranks among the best-preserved marine reptile fossils in South America.
Beyond the headline specimens, the region yields abundant ammonites (spiral-shelled cephalopods), belemnites, bivalves, and fossilized wood. Many of these can be observed in situ along road cuts, river beds, and exposed hillsides throughout the valley. Local guides know the best sites for surface observation, where erosion continuously exposes new material.
Best Fossil Sites Near Villa de Leyva
The Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas houses the famous kronosaurus skeleton discovered in 1977 and remains the essential first stop for any fossil excursion. The Museo El Fósil, located 5 kilometers from the town center, preserves a nearly complete plesiosaur specimen in its original position of discovery — a dramatic presentation that shows the fossil as geologists first encountered it.
For guided field experiences, the surrounding hills of the Ricaurte Alto province offer walking routes where trained paleontologists explain the geological history visible in exposed rock layers. The Quebrada Las Pilas and the formations around Sáchica are particularly productive for ammonite observation. The El Infiernito astronomical site, while primarily an archaeological attraction, also sits within fossil-rich terrain worth exploring.
Combining Fossils with Nature
The Villa de Leyva area rewards travelers who combine paleontology with contemporary natural history. The surrounding dry forests and semi-arid landscapes — unusual in the otherwise wet Colombian Andes — support specialized bird communities including endemic species adapted to arid conditions. The nearby Iguaque Sanctuary protects páramo and cloud forest ecosystems above the fossil-bearing lowlands, creating opportunities for dramatic ecological contrasts within a single day’s exploration.
The region is a comfortable 3-4 hour drive from Bogotá, making it an ideal weekend extension for travelers already visiting the capital. The combination of colonial architecture, paleontological heritage, and Andean highland birding makes Villa de Leyva one of Colombia’s most rewarding multi-interest destinations.
2026 update: Monquirasaurus reclassification (2021), CIP, Padillasaurus, and current museum hours
The taxonomy update every Villa de Leyva fossil article now needs. The signature specimen at Museo El Fósil — the huge pliosaurid discovered in-situ in 1977 in Monquirá vereda — was reclassified from Kronosaurus boyacensis to Monquirasaurus boyacensis in 2021 by Noè and Gómez-Pérez, published in Cretaceous Research vol. 132 (article 105122, 2022). The holotype is roughly 7 metres long with a 2.8-metre skull and teeth up to ~30 cm; the authors’ body-size analysis suggests the living animal may have reached 9-11 metres and ~10 tonnes. The specimen is on display in-situ inside the community-run museum on the Santa Sofía road, about 5 km from Villa de Leyva; opening hours are daily 8:00 am-6:00 pm (adult COP 25,000 / child COP 15,000 as of 2026). This is one of the world’s few pliosaurid skeletons still preserved and exhibited at its excavation site.
The other two 2026 anchors that make Villa de Leyva a full-day fossil circuit. The Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas (CIP) — a private non-profit on the Santa Sofía road ~5 km from town — houses one of Latin America’s most advanced vertebrate-fossil preparation laboratories and one of South America’s most complete Cretaceous marine-reptile collections. Hours: Monday-Friday and Sunday 8:00 am-5:00 pm continuous; Saturday and holidays 8:30 am-5:30 pm; Holy Week 8:30 am-5:30 pm daily. Historically important, Padillasaurus leivaensis was the first Colombian dinosaur formally described (Carballido et al., 2015): an Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid from the Paja Formation (Barremian) near Villa de Leyva, estimated 16-18 metres long and roughly 10 tonnes; preparation of the specimen involved a CONICET-CIP cooperation agreement. And the third stop is the Museo Paleontológico de Villa de Leyva, operated by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia — the academic anchor of the circuit. Combined with the colonial architecture of the town itself, Villa de Leyva is Colombia’s only true fossil-tourism destination and one of the most productive Cretaceous localities in the tropical Americas.
Sara Colmenares holds a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Ecology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in Botany from the same institution. Her doctoral research focused on palm ecology in the Atlantic Forest, supported by the Rufford Foundation conservation grant.
A published researcher in the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology and a member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), Sara has presented her work at international conferences across Latin America and beyond. She was awarded the COLCIENCIAS “Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda” fellowship, one of Colombia’s most competitive academic distinctions for young researchers.
Sara founded the Sula nature tourism brand in 2018, applying her scientific expertise to develop birding and wildlife experiences across Colombia’s six natural regions. Her fieldwork took her from the cloud forests of the Andes to the Amazon basin, the Pacific coast, and the plains of the Orinoquía. She combined deep ecological knowledge with firsthand experience to create content that is both scientifically accurate and practically useful for nature travelers.
She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the National University of Colombia, where she also taught plant ecophysiology. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
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