Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the small surviving community of nuns - after the tour you can buy some of their delicious
home-made sweets.
During the
colonial era
, young women who entered the convent as nuns renounced the ma-
terial world in order to dedicate themselves to matters spiritual. These women were mostly
drawn from the families of wealthy Spanish aristocrats and mine owners, who paid hand-
somely in return. Once inside, girls submitted to a rigid regime of prayer, work and abstinen-
ce.
The convent's simple but elegant pink stone
facade
is the oldest example of mestizo-
Baroque architecture in Potosí, dating back to 1691. Inside is a peaceful complex of court-
yards, gardens and cloisters, and an exhaustive collection of colonial religious art. There
are more than two hundred beautifully preserved
paintings
, including outstanding works by
Melchor Pérez de Holguín and Gaspar Miguel de Berrio. The convent
church
also features a
lavish carved wooden Baroque retable, along with a beautiful panelled wooden roof painted
in
mudéjar
style.
