On Monday, May 13, President Gustavo Petro, through his X account, announced that the Marroquín castle will be handed over to the Pedagogical University to become the institution’s headquarters.
“This Castle was made by the son of former President Marroquín, they say with bribes from the handover of Panama. A castle as an imposture of a corrupt elite that falsely believes itself to be an aristocrat, when in reality it was a slave owner“said the president.
The renowned building is located on the grounds of Hacienda El Castillo in the La Caro sector, municipality of Chía, (Cundinamarca). The building was carried out on the land of former president José Manuel Marroquínwhich is why several classify the president’s decision as an expropriation.
According to historical records, the construction was carried out by the French architect Gastón Lelarge. by decision of Lorenzo Marroquín Osorio (writer, diplomat, politician, writer and son of former president José Manuel Marroquín). The construction of the castle also had the help of teachers Julián Lombana and Demetrio Chávez.
According to researcher Hernán Alejandro Olano, Lorenzo Marroquín Osorio brought the idea of building Marroquín Castle after his travels along the banks of the Rhine, Germany.
The building, which has an area of 61 hectares, has gone through different moments throughout its history. For example, it was used as a cabaret and later as a psychiatric hospital. In 1952 it was acquired by the surgeon and writer Roberto Restrepo.who carried out a complete restoration of the castle.
In 1970, the structure passed into the hands of oilman Guillermo Villasmil, who completely remodeled it again, adding facilities such as a swimming pool and rooms for special guests. However, some time later it was acquired by Juan Diego Silva Medina, who restored it to its current state with the help of architect Francisco Restrepo. Thus, the Marroquín castle was considered cultural heritage, and was used as an event center.
Juan Camilo Zapata Vásquez, a man close to Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, was its last owner, after the authorities seized the building in 2005. The decision became final in 2022 for 58 hectares and six companies of the drug family.
To date, the entity in charge of managing the assets of the Marroquín castle was the Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE), which is why the director of the entity, Daniel Rojas Medellín, assured that President Gustavo Petro’s decision to hand over the castle to The Pedagogical University is not expropriation.
“No, we have not expropriated, it is a property managed by @trabajosSAE and consequently, with the government program it will be put at the service of public education”Rojas indicated on his X account (formerly Twitter).
The director of the SAE also added that “the Marroquín castle property will be delivered by @trabajosSAE to the Pedagogical University in a work plan that has been agreed upon with the rector of the university. Change is social justice.”
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For its part, the Special Assets Society reported that “the Faculty of Arts, classrooms and practices of the Biology, Natural Sciences and Environmental Education programs could operate there, as well as the Pedagogical and Natural History Museums and university welfare infrastructure”.
The decision also had the approval of Helberth Choachí, professor and researcher at the National Pedagogical University, who highlighted the result after a prolonged effort that covered an extensive period of time.
“After several personal meetings held with @productosSAE and the @DanielRMed work team, we managed to materialize the Castle efforts initiated by Professor Adolfo. We also achieved new assets that will enhance our infrastructure @comunidadUPN”said the teacher in X.
