Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
- as well as the nineteenth-century furnaces used to cook the mineral ore. More machinery
from the age of steel and steam is on display inside the old Republican-era plant. This also
houses the
San Marcos
restaurant
.
Iglesia de la Merced
Calle Hoyos • Mon-Fri 11am-12.30pm & 2-6pm, Sat 11am-12.30pm • Free
A block east of Plaza 6 de Agosto along Calle Hoyos, stands the attractive
Iglesia de la
Merced
, completed in 1687 alongside a Mercedarian monastery dating back to 1555. It has a
two-level carved stone facade featuring the coat of arms of the Mercedarian order and there
are great views from the rooftop café.
Iglesia de San Martín
Calle Hoyos • Free
The
Iglesia de San Martín
is an adobe church with a simple stone portico and a beautiful
interior. It was built in 1592 as the parish church for
mita
labourers from the Lupaca tribe.
Inside, the walls are covered in paintings, including individual portraits of all the archangels;
behind the altar stands a fabulous wooden retable.
Along Calle Bolívar
Two blocks north of Plaza 10 de Noviembre,
Calle Bolívar
is a narrow street bustling with
commercial activity, which runs past the
Mercado Central
. A short walk east of the market
is the
Casa de las Tres Portadas
, an eighteenth-century colonial house with wooden bal-
conies and three highly ornate doorways decorated with varied designs including the sun and
moon, angels, floral patterns and gargoyle-like faces.
Casa de los Marqueses de Otavi
Calle Bolívar • Mon-Fri 8am-noon; open to the public but this is a working bank • Free
A colonial mansion (now occupied by the Banco Nacional de Bolivia) with a strikingly
carved mestizo-Baroque stone facade - unusual in a non-religious building - the
Casa de los
Marqueses de Otavi
features two lions with near-human faces holding aloft a coat of arms,
flanked by the sun and moon.
El Pasaje de las Siete Vueltas
If you turn right down Calle Junín from Calle Bolívar, and then right again, you'll reach
the narrow, twisting alley known as
El Pasaje de las Siete Vueltas
(“Seven-turn Passage”),
the only remnant in the Spanish city centre of the disorderly street plan that existed before
Viceroy Toledo ordered it to be relaid.
Iglesia de San Agustín
Bolívar and Junín • Free
