A massive stone rising over 650
feet out of the flat ground of Guatape, Colombia, the Piedra de Penol or
El Peñon de Guatape was once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians. By the
1900s, the massive 10-million-ton rock was seen by local farmers as a
nuisance, a giant version of the rocks that the farmers regularly dug
out of their fields.11 more images after the break...
In 1954 a group of
friends—supposedly at the urging of a local priest—climbed the rock
using a series of boards wedged into a crack. These were the first
people known to have climbed El Peñon de Guatape. (It is unknown whether
the Tahamies had a way of ascending the stone.) Climbing the huge stone
took five days, but the top of the rock revealed both beautiful views
and a new species of plant, Pitcairma heterophila. The rock soon became a
modest tourist attraction.
The rock, which is almost
entirely smooth, has one long crack, the one that the climbers used in
ascending it. In the crack was later wedged a 649-step masonry
staircase, the only way to get to the top of the Piedra de Penol. In the
1970s, the area was dammed, and the view from the rock changed: It now
overlooks a dramatic series of lakes and islands.
Today, you can ascend the rock
(apparently owned by a local family, though also designated by Colombia
as a "national monument") for 2 US dollars. There you'll find a few
religious relics and a three-story lookout tower.
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