Museo de la Catedral

Lonely Planet review

The four sections in the museum are unlocked as your visit progresses to reveal Bolivia's best collections of religious relics. In the entry room is a series of religious paintings from the colonial era. Next, a chapel has relics of saints, and fine gold and silver chalices. The highlight, however, is the Capilla de la Virgen de Guadalupe, completed in 1625.

Encased in the altar is a painting of the Virgin, the city's patron, and a woman of means. She was originally painted by Fray Diego de Ocaña in 1601. The work was subsequently coated with highlights of gold and silver and adorned in robes encrusted with diamonds, amethysts, pearls, rubies and emeralds donated by wealthy colonial parishioners. The jewels alone are worth millions of dollars.