Archivo de Bogotá Secretaría General, Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá

History and Founding

The Archivo de Bogotá was inaugurated on 6 August 2003, a date chosen to coincide with the city's anniversary of founding. It operates as a dependency of the Secretaría General of the Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá (the Capital District government) and functions as both the general and historical archive of the city, as well as the regulatory body of the Sistema Distrital de Archivos (District Archives System). The archive was established to address the near-total loss of Bogotá's documentary heritage in fires in 1786 and 1900, reconstructing institutional memory principally from twentieth-century records.

Collections and Holdings

The archive holds transferred records from dissolved and active District institutions. Among the first and most significant acquisitions were the records of the Empresa Distrital de Transportes Urbanos and the Empresa del Tranvía Municipal, as well as the documentation centre of the former Instituto de Cultura y Turismo. Holdings include administrative files, urban planning documents, maps, photographic collections, and a specialist library focused on Bogotá's history. The archive also manages the Fondo Editorial, which publishes the Revista Nueva Historia de Bogotá and a series of facsimile books.

Relevance to Journalism and Media History

The archive maintains collections relevant to media and communication history in Bogotá, including press clippings, periodicals, and documentation on urban cultural life. Its research journal De Memoria and the Nueva Historia de Bogotá series publish work drawing on its holdings for scholars of Colombian history, including the history of the city's press and public communication.

Access and Usage

The archive operates a public consultation room where researchers may access processed document collections through internal databases. Services include guided tours, document transfer from District entities, accession of donations and private collections, and advisory services in records management to District institutions. The archive building also houses virtual tours and rotating public exhibitions. Contact for research inquiries is available through the official website and by phone.