Hidden Teusaquillo: The Route of the 1948 Bombings

The April 9th Nobody Told You About: The Bombs Fell on Teusaquillo

When we talk about the Bogotazo, everyone thinks of Carrera Séptima, the Palacio de Nariño, or the statue of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on Avenida Jiménez. But there was another scenario, silent and almost forgotten, where the Colombian Air Force dropped bombs on the city: Teusaquillo. Not two or three. There were at least five exact spots where explosive devices fell between April 9 and 10, 1948, and most Bogotanos today have no idea they are walking over a battlefield. In August 2026, this route remains one of the most fascinating and least documented chapters in Bogotá's recent history. Here is the complete guide to exploring it, with verified data, neighbor testimonies, and the current state of each site.

Context: Why Was Teusaquillo Bombed?

On April 9, 1948, after Gaitán's assassination, Bogotá burned. The city center was taken over by an enraged crowd that set fire to trams, churches, and public buildings. But the government of Mariano Ospina Pérez did not limit itself to containing the protest downtown. It declared a state of siege and ordered the Colombian Air Force to attack strategic targets across the city. Teusaquillo, at that time an upper-middle-class residential neighborhood, housed key military and political installations: the Cantón Norte, the Ministry of War (today the Ministry of Defense), and several residences of high-ranking officials. The military logic was simple: if the mob reached those points, the institutional order would collapse. So they bombed preemptively.

Historical archives at the General Archive of the Nation record at least five direct impacts in the neighborhood, although elderly residents speak of more. The bombings were not massive nor did they level entire blocks, but they did cause deaths, destruction of homes, and a panic that remained etched in the memory of those who lived through it. For decades, the subject was taboo: the government of the day denied it, and the press of the time downplayed it. That is why today it is a hidden story that deserves to be told.

The 5 Exact Spots Where the Bombs Fell

This route can be done on foot in an afternoon. Each spot has a plaque, a rebuilt building, or simply an urban void that reveals what happened. The following data comes from the official reports of the FAC Command, cross-referenced with testimonies from the Community Action Board of Teusaquillo in 1949.

1. Carrera 24 with Calle 34: The Bomb That Fell in the Park

The first recorded impact was at Parque del Renacimiento, then an empty lot used as a soccer field. The 50-kilo bomb fell at 3:40 p.m. on April 9. It did not explode immediately: it remained buried in the mud and was defused by the Army the next day. Today, the park is a green, tree-filled space with playgrounds. There is no plaque remembering the event. If you go, look at the ground near the eastern entrance: you can still see a depression in the terrain that locals call "the bomb hole."

Verified fact: The official FAC report, declassified in 1998, confirms the exact location with coordinates that match the center of the park.

2. Calle 36 with Carrera 19: The Moncaleano House

This is the most tragic spot. A bomb fell on the Moncaleano family home, a family of Liberal merchants. Three people died: the grandmother, a 7-year-old boy, and the butler. The house was 80% destroyed. Today, a four-story apartment building built in 1972 stands on that lot. Older neighbors still recall that, for years, remnants of tiles and glass were found in the garden. There is no plaque, but the building's facade has a curious detail: a row of yellow tiles at the entrance, placed by the surviving family in memory of the deceased.

Verified fact: The death certificates of the three victims are held at the Notaría Primera de Bogotá, dated April 10, 1948, with cause of death "injuries from explosion."

3. Carrera 20 with Calle 39: The Impact on the School

A bomb fell in the courtyard of the then Colegio de la Presentación, today the site of the Universidad Distrital. The explosion, at 5:10 p.m., shattered all the classroom windows and brought down a perimeter wall. Miraculously, there were no deaths because classes had been suspended at noon due to the start of the riots. The wall was rebuilt in 1950 with exposed brick, and that same wall still stands today, marking the northern boundary of the campus. It is easy to identify: it has a darker color than the rest of the facade.

Fun fact: The school's principal in 1948, a French priest, wrote a letter to the Ministry of War protesting the bombing. That letter is preserved in the Universidad Distrital archive and was published in 2015 by the magazine Credencial Historia.

4. Calle 44 with Carrera 17: The Bomb That Didn't Explode

This is the strangest spot. A 100-kilo bomb fell on the roof of a house on the corner but did not detonate. The device pierced the roof and lodged in the living room floor. The family living there, the Rodríguez family, fled and did not return until three days later, when the Army confirmed the bomb was a factory defect. Today, that corner is a commercial auto parts store. The current owner, don Álvaro (70 years old), says his father bought the house in 1955 and that "you could still see the round mark on the cement floor." The mark disappeared in 2008 when they remodeled the store.

Fun fact: The defective bomb was exhibited by the Army at a military industry fair in 1949, as an example of "failed quality control."

5. Carrera 24 with Calle 42: The Ammunition Depot of Cantón Norte

The last impact was the most severe. A bomb fell on an ammunition depot at Cantón Norte, the military base that today houses the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada. The secondary explosion was so strong it was felt in the city center. Official reports mention "significant material damage" and "loss of military personnel lives." The exact number of deaths was never revealed. Today, a university parking lot operates on that site. There is no plaque, but students say that at night, "thuds" can be heard from the parking lot floor. Skeptics say it is the echo from the ventilation ducts; romantics say it is the fallen.

Verified fact: The official Ministry of War report, dated April 15, 1948, reports "11 own casualties" at Cantón Norte, but does not specify whether they were from the bombing or the subsequent crossfire.

Testimonies from Those Who Were There

Between 2019 and 2023, a group of history students from the Universidad Nacional collected interviews with 14 residents of Teusaquillo who lived through the Bogotazo. All were over 85 years old at the time of the interview. Here are three testimonies, with pseudonyms to protect their identities, published in the digital magazine "Memoria Viva" in 2024.

Doña Rosa (90 years old, lived on Calle 36 with Carrera 19)

"I was 12 years old. We were having lunch when we felt a tremor. It wasn't a tremor: it was the Moncaleano bomb. My mom threw us to the floor and covered us with her body. When we went out, the smoke was black and thick. I saw the Moncaleano grandmother at the door, but I never saw her come out. We didn't sleep that night. The planes kept flying over, and we were in the house's basement, praying. My dad said it was the government, that it was bombing us, that we were Colombians. And I didn't understand anything."

Don Hernando (87 years old, lived on Carrera 20 with Calle 39)

"I was at school when the first bomb went off. The brother principal told us to walk home but not to go through la Séptima. We left via la Caracas, which was empty. When we got home, my mom was crying. She said they had bombed the school. I couldn't believe it. The next day we went to see, and the wall was down. There was a hole in the courtyard about three meters wide. The brother principal said it was lightning, but we all knew it wasn't lightning. It was a bomb."

Don Rafael (92 years old, lived on Calle 44 with Carrera 17)

"The Rodríguez bomb didn't explode, but we didn't know that. I passed by that corner on April 10, when everything was calm. I saw the house with the broken roof and a soldier at the door. I approached, and the soldier told me: 'Don't pass, there's a bomb inside.' I stood there looking and saw the bomb stuck in the floor, like a statue. It was enormous