Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Plaza
Av 16 de Julio 1698 • Daily 9am-9pm • Bs15 • 02 2335905
The
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Plaza
isadecentshowcaseofbothhomegrownandin-
ternational talent housed in a stunning nineteenth-century mansion. Amid the Gustave Eiffel
stained glass and gilded staircases hang works which span the last six decades and the whole
artistic spectrum, from vibrant indigenous oil paintings and a glut of Che Guevara images, to
the balletic poise of American Richard Hallier's sculptures and the powerful
Minero Cruci-
ficado
by Cochabama-born Hans Hoffman (
not
the famous abstract expressionist), strikingly
wrought from soldered iron.
Plaza Sucre
Two blocks southwest of the Prado along Colombia, San Pedro
Plaza Sucre
(also known as Plaza San Pedro) lies at the centre of
San Pedro
, one of the
city's oldest suburbs. On the face of it, the square is peaceful enough, with well-tended gar-
dens surrounding a statue of Bolivia's first president, the Venezuelan
General Antonio José
de Sucre
, and home to portrait photographers with ancient box cameras. Yet looming over
the plaza's southeastern edge are the pockmarked adobe walls of
San Pedro Prison
, where a
rash of recent protests has seen the teargas flying as police battle with disgruntled prisoners.
The place - and in fact the whole San Pedro area - is best avoided entirely come nightfall.
