The secrets of a chest, sealed 100 years ago at Colombia’s centennial celebration, were revealed to commemorate the Andean nation’s bicentennial of independence.
The bicentennial chest, a metal box which was sealed on October 31, 1911, was opened by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno during a solemn ceremony Tuesday morning.
Inside the chest the officials found 100-year-old photos, drawings, city plans and hymns. Each of the 32 items found in the chest was included in a detailed inventory.
The items in the chest included some of the most important documents from Colombia’s centennial celebration in 1911.
The chest was kept untouched in Bogota’s Palacio Lievano, headquarters of the city’s mayor, for a century. Furniture restoration experts treated the chest to keep it well preserved.
At the opening, Moreno said that it was a historic moment for the people of Bogota, who should be proud of their city’s conversion into a great metropolis. 100 years ago Bogota had a population of 115,000, but today almost seven million people call the Colombian capital city home.
Moreno announced his intention to continue the centennial tradition by creating a new chest, to be opened on July 20, 2110.