Sucre

The inner city:

The center of Sucre is one with a very rich Spanish colonial history. For that reason, it abounds that in the inner city the colonial buildings, are all painted white. One of the buildings is the Casa de la Libertad where the independence of Bolivia was signed in 1825.

It is now a museum. There are numerous beautiful churches to admire inside and out, including the San lazaro and the San Fransisco church but also the Santo Domingo church. You can take a look at the Templo Nuestro Senora de la Merced or the Franciscan monastery La Recoleta. A freshly squeezed orange juice and watching local people in Parque Bolivar can be another but equally interesting thing during your trip in Bolivia. In addition to the above, there are numerous other museums in the city to visit (including the Museo de la Catedral and Capilla de La Virgin de Guadalupe). Do not forget to pay a visit to the local market. 

Other attractions:

• The Parque Cretacico (Cal Orck'o) is about five kilometers outside the city center - a park where most dinosaur footsteps are found.

On 16 April 1540 Sucre was founded by a Spanish conquistador after a bloody battle with the local Indians at the foot of two surrounding hills where silver was found. The name of the city was then Ciudad de la Plata (silver-town) and formed the capital of New Toledo. Other names that the city once wore are Charcas (to the Charcas area, part of the Virreinato del Perú (Viceroyalty Peru) where it was the capital) and Chuquisaca.

One of the nicknames of the city is la Ciudad de Cuatro Nombres (the city with four names). In 1559, the Spaniards settled in this city the Audiencia de Charcas, the government of an area now covered by Paraguay, Southeastern Peru, Northern Chile and Argentina and most of Bolivia. During the 17th century La Plata was the legal, religious and cultural center of the Spanish Eastern Territories, which were ruled from here. On May 25, 1809, the first call for independence from South America sounded from La Plata.

In August 6, 1825 the independence of Bolivia followed. The name of La Plata was changed to Sucre on August 11 of that year, with which the city was named after Antonio José de Sucre, who had fought for independence with freedom fighter Simón Bolívar. Until 1898 Sucre Sede de los tres was Poderes del Estado (Seat of the Three State Forces), but after a brief civil war the government was moved to La Paz in 1899 and Sucre retained only the judicial institutions the Council of Justice, the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court as well as the head office of taxes.