THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bolivia - page 297

the defeat of the Spanish at the battle of Ayacucho and served as Bolivia's first president. Its
economic importance continued to decline, however, and the seat of both congress and the
presidency was moved to La Paz after the 1899 civil war between the two cities. In a very
Bolivian compromise, Sucre remained the seat of the supreme court and was allowed to re-
tain the title of official or constitutional capital , an honorary position it still holds today.
Plaza 25 de Mayo
The centre of Sucre is the spacious Plaza 25 de Mayo , shaded by tall palms and dotted with
benches where people of all social classes pass the time of day chatting, reading newspapers
or greeting passing acquaintances. In the middle of the plaza, flanked by bronze lions, stands
a statue of Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre , the Venezuelan-born South American inde-
pendence hero and first president of Bolivia whose name the city bears. The plaza is lined
with elegant colonial and republican public and religious buildings, all painted an immacu-
late white that dazzles in the usually bright sunshine.
Casa de la Libertad
Plaza 25 de Mayo • Tues-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-6.30pm, Sun 9am-noon • Bs15
On the northwest side of the square is the Neoclassical Casa de la Libertad . Built in 1888
to replace a colonial cabildo , the Casa de la Libertad (then known as the Alcadia Municip-
al) was where the Bolivian Act of Independence was signed on August 6, 1825. The build-
ing now houses a small but interesting museum dedicated to the birth of the republic. Inside,
the original signed document proclaiming a sovereign and independent state is on display
in the assembly hall where the declaration was made; the same hall also housed the Bolivi-
an congress from then until the seat of government was moved to La Paz in 1899. On the
walls hang portraits of Sucre and Bolívar - the latter, by the Peruvian painter Gil de Castro,
was described by the Libertador himself as being the best likeness ever made of him. Beside
the Casa de la Libertad stands the simple but well-preserved colonial facade of the original
seventeenth-century Jesuit University .
La Prefectura
Plaza 25 de Mayo
Around the corner from the Casa de la Libertad on the southwest side of Plaza 25 de Mayo
stands the lavish Neoclassical facade of what was to have been the presidential palace , a
glorious monument to hubris completed shortly before the seat of the presidency was moved
to La Paz; it now houses the Prefectura (departmental government) de Chuquisaca.
La Catedral
Plaza 25 de Mayo • Mon-Sat 8-9am & Sun 9-11.30am for Mass; alternatively you can visit via the Museo
Eclesiastico • Free
Next to the Prefectura, facing sideways onto the southwest side of the plaza, stands the
Catedral , or Basilica Mayor. Built between 1551 and 1712 and extensively modified since, it