Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Each
ingenio
consists of a floor penetrated by shallow wells
(buitrones)
where the ore
was mixed with mercury and salt. The ore was then ground by millstones that were
powered by water that was impounded in the 32 artificial Lagunas de Kari Kari.
Museo & Convento de Santa Teresa
(cnr Santa Teresa & Ayacucho; admission by guided tour B$21, photo permit B$10;
9am-12:30pm & 2:30-6:30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-11am & 3-5pm Sun, last tours 11am & 5pm
Mon-Sat)
The fascinating Santa Teresa Convent was founded in 1685 and is still home to
a small community of Carmelite nuns. One of them is an architect and has directed a su-
perb restoration project that has converted part of the sizable building into a museum.
The excellent guided tour (in Spanish and English) explains how girls of 15 from
wealthy families entered the convent, getting their last glimpse of parents and loved ones
at the door. Entry was a privilege, paid for with a sizable dowry; a good portion of these
offerings are on display in the form of religious artwork.
There are numerous fine pieces, including a superb Madonna by Castilian sculptor
Alonso Cano, several canvases by Melchor Pérez de Holguín, Bolivia's most famous
painter, and a room of painted wooden Christs. Some of the artworks verge on the
macabre, as does the skull sitting in a bowl of dust in the middle of the dining room and a
display of wire whisks that some of the nuns used for self-flagellation.
The building itself is as impressive as the works of art on show, with two pretty
cloisters housing numerous cacti and a venerable apple tree. It provides a glimpse into a
cloistered world that only really changed character in the 1960s, with the reforms of the
Second Vatican Council.
The guided tour lasts almost two hours; note that some of the rooms are particularly
chilly. There's also a cafe and store, where you can buy almond and peanut sweets made
by the nuns.
MUSEUM
Museo & Convento de San Francisco
(cnr Tarija & Nogales; admission B$15; 9am-noon & 2:30-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon
Sat)
The San Francisco Convent was founded in 1547 by Fray Gaspar de Valverde, mak-
ing it the oldest monastery in Bolivia. Owing to its inadequate size, it was demolished in
1707 and reconstructed over the following 19 years. A gold-covered altar from this build-
ing is now housed in the Casa Nacional de la Moneda. The statue of Christ that graces the
present altar features hair that is said to grow miraculously.
MUSEUM
