Must-see attractions in Potosí

  • Potosi, Bolivia, 7 November, 2015. National Mint of Bolivia with Mask of Bacchus in Potosi, Bolivia on 7 November, 2015.  Casa Nacional de la Moneda

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    Casa Nacional de la Moneda

    Potosí

    The National Mint is Potosí’s star attraction and one of South America’s finest museums. Potosí’s first mint was constructed on the present site of the…

  • Museo y Convento de Santa Teresa

    Potosí

    The fascinating Santa Teresa Convent was founded in 1685 and is still home to a small community of Carmelite nuns who have restored the sizable building…

  • Lagunas de Kari Kari

    Potosí

    The Lagunas de Kari Kari are artificial lakes (ranging from an elevation of 4500m to 5025m) constructed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries by 20…

  • Tarapaya

    Potosí

    Belief in the curative powers of Tarapaya (3600m), the most frequently visited hot-springs area around Potosí (21km northwest of the city), dates back to…

  • Museo y Convento de San Francisco

    Potosí

    This convent, founded in 1547 by Fray Gaspar de Valverde, is the oldest monastery in Bolivia. Owing to its inadequate size, it was demolished in 1707 and…

  • La Catedral

    Potosí

    Construction of La Catedral was initiated in 1564 and finally completed around 1600. The original building lasted until the early 19th century, when it…

  • Torre de la Compañía de Jesús

    Potosí

    The ornate and beautiful bell tower, on what remains of the former Jesuit church, was completed in 1707 after the collapse of the original church. Both…

  • Casa de las Tres Portadas

    Potosí

    An architecturally notable home that once housed lay sisters of the Franciscan order. It has three separate and widely spaced doorways with finely…

  • Iglesia de la Merced

    Potosí

    Constructed between 1555 and 1687, the restored Iglesia de la Merced has a carved pulpit, a gorgeous wooden ceiling and a beautiful 18th-century silver…

  • Bell Tower

    Potosí

    Visit the bell tower of Potosí's central cathedral for nice views of the city. The side entrance is hard to spot.

  • Los Ingenios

    Potosí

    On the banks of the Río Huana Mayu, in the upper Potosí barrios of Cantumarca and San Antonio, are some fine ruined examples of the ingenios (smelters)…

  • Calle Quijarro

    Potosí

    North of the Iglesia de San Agustín, Calle Quijarro narrows as it winds between a wealth of colonial buildings, many with doorways graced by old family…

  • Iglesia de San Martín

    Potosí

    The rather ordinary-looking Iglesia de San Martín was built in the 1600s and is today run by the French Redemptionist Fathers. Inside is an art museum,…

  • Arcos de Cobija

    Potosí

    Potosí's elaborate colonial architecture merits a stroll around the narrow streets to take in the ornate doorways and facades, as well as the covered…

  • Portón Mestizo

    Potosí

    On Calle Junín, between Matos and Bolívar, this especially lovely and elaborate doorway, flanked by twisted columns, once graced the home of the Marqués…

  • Iglesia de San Bernardo

    Potosí

    The former church and convent of Iglesia de San Bernardo is most notable for its spectacular facade of un-dressed boulders. The cavernous interior now…

  • Pasaje de Siete Vueltas

    Potosí

    This passageway, an extension of Calle Ingavi, east of Junín, wends around a series of angular turns, displaying some interesting architectural quirks…

  • Esquina de las Cuatro Portadas

    Potosí

    This intersection, at the corner of Quijarro and Modesto Omiste, has been dubbed the Esquina de las Cuatro Portadas because of its four colonial doorways.

  • El Cabildo

    Potosí

    City Hall is housed in an elaborately designed colonial-era building with an ornately carved portal occupying the western side of Plaza 10 de Noviembre.

  • Iglesia Santo Domingo

    Potosí

    Parts of this 17th-century church, recently restored, served as a prison from 1860 to 2000.