Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It was the biggest Spanish city to be captured during the
Great Rebellion
of 1780-81, when
the city's mestizos and criollos joined the indigenous uprising led by Tupac Amaru, massac-
ring the Spanish-born population. This multi-class alliance did not last long: the rebel army
raised from the
ayllus
of the surrounding Altiplano soon turned on the criollo instigators of
the uprising, looting and burning their houses and killing their leader, Sebastián Pagador, be-
fore meeting the same fate themselves at the hands of the royalist army when it eventually
retook the city.
Oruro changed hands several times during the
Independence War
(1809-24), and its eco-
nomy was severely disrupted. The city gradually recovered as silver production grew again,
aidedbyforeigncapital,improvedindustrialtechnologyandthecompletionofarailwaylink-
ing Oruro with the Pacific coast in 1892. The railway meant Oruro was perfectly placed to
exploit the growing world demand for
tin
, which was found in great abundance in the sur-
rounding mountains.
The three Bolivian mining entrepreneurs who controlled most of the
mines
of Oruro -
Aramayo, Hochschild and Patiño - soon came to dominate the national political scene, but
their treatment of the miners sowed the seeds of their downfall. The radical FSTMB mine-
workers' union that emerged from Oruro's mining camps played a key role in the 1952 re-
volutionthatledtothenationalizationofthemines.However,whenthepriceoftincrashedin
1985, the mining industry collapsed; with it went the power of the miners' union and Oruro's
economic fortunes. Most of the mines were closed and thousands lost their jobs; although
some (gold and tin) mines have opened since, Oruro has never really recovered.
Plaza 10 de Febrero
In the city centre sits the
Plaza 10 de Febrero
, named after the date the people of Oruro
joined the Great Rebellion of 1781. It has a statue of Aniceto Arce, the president who over-
saw the construction of the vital first railway link between Oruro and the coast in 1892.
Nearby are a few buildings hinting at past prosperity, most notably the
Palais Concert
Theatre
on the southeast corner and the grandiose
post office
a block north on Avenida
Montes.
Casa de Cultura Simón I. Patiño
Northwest of Plaza 10 de Febrero on Soria Galvarro • Mon-Fri 8-11.30am & 2.30-6pm • Bs10
The
Casa de Cultura Simón I. Patiño
is the city's best reminder of the great wealth the
Oruro mines once produced. This elegant Neoclassical palace was built as a town house for
the eponymous
tin baron
in the early years of the twentieth century, though by the time it was
completed he no longer lived in Bolivia. Many rooms have been maintained in their original
state: set around a beautifully tiled, glass-roofed central patio are the astonishingly opulent
living quarters, with Venetian crystal chandeliers, Louis XV furniture and Persian carpets.
