We also visited La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino where the veneered Simon Bolivar died at the age of 47 in 1830. This was a large plantation owned by a wealthy friend of Bolivar who asked him to stay there when he learned that Bolivar was very ill from tuberculosis and many other afflictions, including at least one venereal disease.

Though Bolivar was Criollo, meaning Spanish descendent born in the New World, he married a Spanish woman of noble ancestry in Spain. However, she died 9 months after their wedding and Bolivar never married again, opting rather for having lovers throughout the Gran Colombia. It is said that he had at least 35 lovers with the most famous one being Manuela Saenz, a married woman of noble ancestry from Ecuador. Their love affair was quite passionate and well known and is depicted in the few letters that were salvage out of the reportedly hundreds of letters they wrote to each other.

Bolivar is the liberator of the Gran Colombia and was a leader whose vision was to unite all of Latin America into one nation. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela but spent most of his time in and out of Colombia. At that time, the seat of Government for the Grand Colombia was Santa Fe de Bogota - what is today the capital of Colombia. The Grand Colombia was composed of 5 nations - Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Annexed to Colombia was Panama which later obtained independence from Colombia (with US support) in 1903 upon which the Americans signed a contract with Panama to build the canal and hold its rights to perpetuity. As a side note, some of you may remember that in 1976 US President Carter signed an agreement to return the canal to Panama. But Bolivar died too young and did not have a chance to fulfill his vision. Each country separated and created its own government. Today one can see remains of the Grand Colombia alliance when comparing the flags, for instance, since they all have the same colors with variations in style. Also, in comparing the constitutions of these countries one can see their similarities.

Click on the "Photo Gallery" icon on the blog to find pictures in the album "Santa Marta: La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino"