El Peñón de Guatapé

A giant granite monolith climbed by 708 steps, with panoramic views over a maze of lakes.

People climb a long staircase built into a crack on one side, with about 700 steps, to reach a viewing platform at the top. From the summit you can look out over a maze of lakes and green islands, near the town of Guatapé. The rock is a remnant of hard granite that held out while the softer ground around it wore away, probably because it has fewer cracks than the rock nearby.

What is the rock made of?

It is part of the Antioquia Batholith, a huge body of granite that cooled underground. Geologists say it is about 65 million years old. The rock is mostly quartz, feldspar and granite, and it is roughly 285 metres long and 110 metres wide. It has resisted erosion because it is less fractured than the stone around it.

Who first climbed it?

The Tahamí people, who lived here long ago, worshiped the rock and called it mojarrá, which means rock or stone. It was first officially climbed on 16 July 1954 by Luis Eduardo Villegas López, Pedro Nel Ramírez and Ramón Díaz, who spent five days hammering sticks into the wall. Villegas later bought the rock from local farmers, who thought the land useless, built stairs into the crack and began charging visitors. A statue of him stands at the bottom.

Visiting today

Near the base there are food and market stalls, and about halfway up the stairs is a small shrine. On top are a three-storey viewing tower, a shop and a seating area. Yellow numbers on the steps help count the climb. Helicopter tours circle the rock. Beside the town, the lakes seen from the top were created by a hydroelectric dam.

The towns of Guatapé and El Peñol both claimed the rock. People from Guatapé once began painting the town's name in big white letters on its west face, but a crowd from El Peñol stopped them, leaving a big G and a single stroke of the next letter.

On the globe

The model shows a giant monolith of gray granite with a zigzag stair on its side; look for the lone tall rock.