La Comuna 13: a ghetto transformed thanks to graffiti – What to do in Medellin #3 (Colombia)
It is the last day of Philippe (JB’s father) in Colombia and we chose to bring him to see the best of the best of Medellin: the Comuna 13, formerly the most dangerous district of the most dangerous city in the world, because directly associated with Pablo Escobar in the 80-90s.
Part 1: Travel Diary Part
2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Diary
The history of Comuna 13
There are 16 comunas (boroughs) in Medellín and Comuna 13 is the best known for the wrong reasons. After Escobar’s death, the municipality passed into the hands of organized gangs. Only the inhabitants could enter, the others were mercilessly killed.
The metamorphosis began in 2002 with Operation Orion, carried out by the Colombian military forces, including the air force, and the national police. For several days, helicopters fired in all directions, as did the police, and the gangs returned fire. But there were many innocent inhabitants, forced to live here because they were too poor to do otherwise.
A few years later, thanks to the installation of escalators, the nearby metro and the various city buses, the neighborhood has completely transformed itself and has become much more accessible. Added to this are schools, then graffiti by famous artists, attracting tourists from all over the world. There is now a great atmosphere in Comuna 13: a palpable transformation, and hope is reborn in the inhabitants.
Unfortunately, there are still a few gangs in the area and it is still not possible to spend the night here (there are no hotels or youth hostels). However, during the day, it is safe, as long as you stay in very touristy places. I saw some drones flying, but I advise you not to do it in places like this one.
Practical tips (how to get there, what to see, etc.) are available at the end of the article.
Mirador
We take the metro to the San Javier station. At the metro exit, we turn right and take another green bus (no. 2251) to the intersection of Carrera 109 with Calle 38A. The bus option is highly recommended if you are visiting without a guide.
Rates: 1200COP/person, payment in cash. If you prefer a guided tour, many tours will ask you to come out of the metro.
We go up Carrera 109 and take the escalator to the watchtower (if you are lost, follow the groups).
The view is impressive! We are lucky to have sun while the weather forecast announces rain.
On the way there are a few small groups of dancers and rappers. It’s Sunday so the atmosphere is even more festive than during the week. There is an incredibly positive energy, and that makes us very good, especially since we had our phone stolen yesterday. Very upset and a little traumatized, we still need to believe in the positive side of life and the Comuna 13 helped us a lot in this sense.
We admire a lot of graffiti, most of them recently done in 2019. Indeed, from one visit to another, we can see different graffiti. As soon as a graffiti is deteriorated, it is quickly replaced by another one. The place is incredibly photogenic
The graffiti of Chota, the highly respected artist and child of Comuna 13, are very easily recognizable. He often draws the Pachamama, Mother Nature, and puts messages of hope and transformation for the neighborhood.
We take the escalator to go down and we stop in front of the shop/restaurant of Chota (his real name: John). He is serving drinks on the terrace of his café. We arrive in “groupies” mode and ask him for an autograph, under the blissful eyes of other tourists who don’t know who this waiter is, who gave them the price of the beers 10 seconds earlier.
Try his coffee limonada, it’s very good. And empanadas too. Next to the cash box on the ground floor, there is a picture of him with Bill Clinton who came to visit the place, and a notebook full of old pictures of Comuna 13.
We continue the descent via escalator and stop at each level to admire the graffiti.
It is while testing his new phone that JB realizes its great features. The pictures are so beautiful that we have already forgotten the old one, stolen the day before. Philippe and I keep asking JB for profile pictures because this new smartphone, equipped with 3 cameras, has an “open” mode and is able to take pictures of the same quality of a reflex.
On the penultimate level, there is an ice cream seller, who is very successful. All the groups stop at his place to have an ice cream with fruit, soaked in salted juice. 1500COP/ice cream.
It is already time to go home. JB plays soccer 5mn with the children, then we take the green bus back to the San Javier metro station.
Philippe is getting ready to go to the airport, direction Bogota => London => Paris => Tours. But he is very happy to have ended his stay in Colombia with thisn’te full of hope.
Part 2: Practical Tips
How to get there?
- The 1st time, we followed a Free Walking Tour. There are many of them at the exit of the subway San Javier, but the Zippy Tour is the most known (in English or Spanish). On weekends, it is better to book in advance (departure every day at 10 am and 2 pm from the subway San Javier). Recommended tip: 25000COP/person. This is the option we recommend because you will learn a lot more about the comuna and help the young people here directly – the guides come from Comuna 13
- If Zippy Tour is full, you can also go through getyourguide but it will be a bit more expensive (19€/person)
- The 2nd time, knowing the way, we went there by ourselves:
- To do so, you have to go to the San Javier metro station
- As soon as you exit the metro, turn right, you will see the green buses
- Take bus 2251 (1200COP, cash payment) and stop at the bus icon on this map (at the intersection of Carrera 109 with Calle 38A)
- Go up the street (Carrera 109) and take the escalators to the Comuna 13 viewpoint, then visit both sides of the viewpoint
To know where to go and not get lost, the Virtual Trip bloggers have made this excellent video (they walked to La Comuna from San Javier), watch it before the tour to know where to go and don’t miss any graffiti. You won’t find most of the graffiti in the video (filmed in 2018) because they’ve been replaced by others, but you’ll be able to recognize the streets.
Did you like this article? Check out our articles on Medellin and Colombia
