Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
middle-class suburb of
Sopocachi
. Many of the city's wealthiest residents likewise now live
in the suburbs that have sprung up down the valley in the
Zona Sur
, about 5km from the city
centre.
The colonial city centre
The well-ordered streets of the colonial city centre still preserve the neat grid pattern laid out
bythe city founders inaccordance with Spanish laws governing the foundation ofsettlements
in the Indies. At its centre stands the
Plaza Murillo
, home to both the Palacio Presidential
and the parliament building, the Palacio Legislativo. A fair number of colonial buildings still
survive, though most are in a poor state of repair, their crumbling facades and dilapidated
balconies obscured by tangled phone lines and electricity cables. The exceptions to this are
concentrated on and around the Plaza Murillo and nearby
calle Jaén
, both of which are also
home to several
museums
.
Plaza Murillo
Though it remains the epicentre of Bolivia's political life, the
Plaza Murillo
- the main
square of the colonial city centre - has an endearingly provincial feel, busy with people feed-
ing pigeons and eating ice cream, and filled with smartly dressed families on weekends. On a
sunnydayit'sawonderfulplacetorestyourfeet,warmyourselfupandretreatfromthechaos
all around, especially in winter when the city's otherwise shadowy streets are at their chilli-
est. Known as the Plaza de Armas during the colonial era, the square was renamed after in-
dependence in honour of the independence martyr Pedro Domingo Murillo, who was hanged
here in 1810 after leading a failed rebellion against the colonial authorities, one of several
bloody scenes the square has witnessed during Bolivia's turbulent political past. A statue of
Murillo now stands at the centre of the plaza.
La Catedral
Plaza Murillo • Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 4-8pm, Sat & Sun 8am-noon • Free
On the south side of the plaza stand two great symbols of political and spiritual power in
Bolivia, the Catedral and the Palacio Presidential. With its twin bell towers and broad but
rather plain Neoclassical facade, the
Catedral
isremarkable moreforthetime ittooktocom-
plete (almost a century) than for its aesthetic value. The cool, vaulted interior is relatively un-
adorned,incontrasttoLaPaz'smanyBaroquechurches;itsmostunusualfeatureisastained-
glass window depicting former presidents Mariscal Andrés de Santa Cruz and General José
de Ballivián and their families receiving blessings from on high, a surprisingly explicit ex-
pression of the historic conflation in Bolivia of church, military and state.
Palacio Presidencial
South side of Plaza Murillo
Next door to the Catedral stands the elegant Neoclassical
Palacio Presidencial
, its ceremo-
nial guards in red nineteenth-century uniforms from the War of the Pacific discreetly backed
