Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Central Highlands Highlights
Admire the churches of Potosí (
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)
, filled with evocative religious
artworks
Goggle at the colonial beauty of Sucre (
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)
, Bolivia's most attract-
ive city
Pack on the pounds or party hard in Cochabamba (
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), which
boasts some of the country's best restaurants and bars
Home in on remote and wild Parque Nacional Torotoro (
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)
,
stomping ground of dinosaurs
Roam the Cordillera de los Frailes (
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)
, with its intriguing Jal'qa
weaving culture
Take in one of the whacky festivals at little Tiquipaya (
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)
Visit Bolivia's version of Machu Picchu, the mystical ruins of Incallajta (
History
Prior to Spanish domination, the town of Charcas (nowadays Sucre) was the indi- genous
capital of the valley of Choque-Chaca. As the residence of local religious, military and
political leaders, its jurisdiction extended to several thousand inhabitants. When the Span-
ish arrived, the area from southern Peru to the Río de la Plata in present-day Argentina
came to be known as Charcas.
In the early 1530s Francisco Pizarro, the conquistador who felled the Inca empire, sent
his brother Gonzalo to the Charcas region to oversee indigenous mining activities that
might prove to be valuable to the Spanish realm. He was not interested in the Altiplano
and concentrated on the highlands east of the main Andean cordilleras. As a direct result,
in 1538 a new Spanish capital of the Charcas was founded. Following in the conquered
population's footsteps, he chose the warm, fertile valley of Choque-Chaca for its site. The
city, later to become Sucre, was named La Plata - silver was god in those days.
Whereas previously all territories in the region had been governed from Lima, in 1559
King Felipe II created the Audiencia (Royal Court) of Charcas, with its headquarters in
the young city, to help administer the eastern territories. Governmental subdivisions with-
in the district came under the jurisdiction of royal officers known as
corregidores
.
