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Museums
"Juan
de Vargas" Local
Customs Museum
Named in honor
of the first mayor of
La Paz, this museum
opened its doors in
1979. On exhibit are
nineteenth century
crystal and porcelain
ware, silver and
filigree miniatures,
door decorations from
La Paz and Potosí,
pre-Columbian objects,
chulpares,
etc.; miniatures of
the typical
inhabitants of La Paz,
their customs and
fashions; scale models
of Loreto and San
Sebastián, portraits
and paintings of
Bolivian presidents; a
listing of miniatures
of the Board of
Defense of the July
16, 1809 Revolution,
seating plans, and
harmonia of the
period.
Location: Northern La
Paz. Apolinar Jaén
Street.
Precious
Metals Museum
This house with its
handsome architecture
and three framed
cobblestone patios at
different levels dates
from the fourteenth
century. It originally
belonged to
Independence hero
Apolinar Camacho and
now exhibits gold and
silver works from as
far back as the
pre-Colombian period,
together with examples
of silver plate,
bronze, gold and
copper objects from
the Tiawanacu and Inca
cultures;
pre-Colombian ceramics
and a variety of stone
paintings, such as
that of Huancarani.
Location: Northern La
Paz. Apolinar Jaén
Street.
Murillo
House
This house, built in
the early nineteenth
century, is dedicated
to La Paz’s hero of
Bolivian Independence
and the July 16, 1809
Revolution, Pedro
Domingo Murillo. Now a
national monument with
exhibition halls:
Baroque Birth, the
Board of Defense Room,
bedroom, chapel,
picture gallery,
miniatures of the Ekeko,
furniture hall and
Presidents’ room.
Location: Northern La
Paz. Apolinar Jaén
Street.
Tambo
Kirkincha Museum
A major monument of
civil architecture,
the museum was
inaugurated on October
20, 1987. The arch
leading into the patio
bears a royal Spanish
crown, which certain caciques,
or native Indian
chiefs, were permitted
to display. There are
twelve permanent
exhibit rooms and a
hall for temporary
exhibits. These are
representative of the
lifestyle of the first
inhabitants. There is
a collection of
colonial and
republican silver
plate, masks,
contemporary paintings
and sculptures from La
Paz, photographs of
the city of yesterday,
and clothing and
photographs of the
native Indian woman of
La Paz.
Location: Rosario
area, Evaristo Valle
Street at Alonso de
Mendoza Square.
Tiawanacu
Museum
Neotiawanacota in
style, this stone
construction is
inspired by Tiawanacu
monuments with a
staggered symbolism
and a profusion of
monoliths resting on
pilasters. The museum
showcases Tiawanaku
ceramics, chullpas and
other elements.
Location: La Paz city
center. Tiawanacu
Street and 16 de Julio
(El Prado) Avenue.
Las
Brujas (the Witches)
Market
A typical La Paz
market where the
sellers offer the
strangest and most
varied wares, ranging
from offerings to Pachamama,
the Mother Earth, to
medicinal herbs and
objects used by the
native Kallawaya
medicine men.
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The
Feast of the Lord of Great Power is one of the
most important and expressive manifestations
of La Paz’s cultural identity.
It is said locally that the feast had its
origin in the arrival in the Ch'ijini area of
a canvas showing a three-faced figure. The
image was reinterpreted according to the
Aymara tradition to mean that the face on the
right was asked for good things, the one on
the left for negative things, and the center
face was prayed to. Thus was the worship of
the Lord of the Holy Trinity born.
The Catholic Church had the canvas repainted
in 1930, leaving only the face in the center,
which became known as Jesus of the Great
Power. A folklore parade known by the same
name is held in his honor.
Seats in the stands lining the entire course
of the parade can be rented to enjoy the
festivities.
Characteristics of the
Feast
Originally confined to the traditional
Ch'ijini district, the feast has spread to the
center of La Paz. Thousands of spectators join
the dancers, symbolically taking over the
space occupied by other cultures.
Rehearsals of the brotherhoods and musicians,
religious celebrations and the feverish making
of masks, shoes, shawls, skirts and embroidery
fill the three or four months leading up to
the feast, which explodes in an ostentatious
and majestic expression of La Paz folklore,
starting at eight in the morning and lasting
throughout the entire day.
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Tourist Attractions |
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Colonial
Churches
 San
Francisco
The temple and convent of worked stone were
originally built in 1549, but were destroyed
by a heavy snowfall at the beginning of the
seventeenth century. The present temple, also
of stone, dates from the mid eighteenth
century (1743-1784) and boasts a mestizo
baroque façade.
Location: La Paz city center. Sagarnaga Street
and San Francisco Square.
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 Cathedral
of Nuestra Señora de La Paz, or Our Lady of
Peace
This neoclassical temple with baroque
overtones was designed by architect Manuel
Sanahuja and built in 1836. Behind the
two-bodied façade are five engraved bronze
portals. To the left is a chapel where the
remains of Marshall Andrés Santa Cruz y
Calahumana rest.
Location: La Paz city center. Comercio Street
and Murillo Square.
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 La
Merced
This temple in the shape of a Latin cross
dates back to the year 1707. The main nave has
a barrel vault; there is a dome at the
crossing, artists’ vaults in the lateral
naves, a simple sculpted stone baroque facade,
and a square tower with a cupola and lantern
surmounted by a cross. The main dome and the
rest of the structure are roofed in tiles. It
leads into an atrium where the flower market
once stood.
Location: La Paz city center. Comercio and
Colón Streets.
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 Legislative
Palace
The headquarters of the National Congress,
inaugurated in 1905, were built according to
classicist canons. The two main chambers are
occupied by the Senate and the House of
Deputies. A large glass dome covers the
library. From the foyer, a white marble
imperial staircase rises to the second floor.
The Corinthian façade has three doors
surmounted by a jutting cupola with a brass
overlay and a clock on the fronton.
Location: La Paz city center, Murillo Square.
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 Government
Palace
Drawing its inspiration from the palaces of
the Roman Renaissance with Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian architecture, the Government Palace
was built in 1845 by architect José Núñez
del Prado. The interior is dominated by an
imperial staircase, an elegant arch, whose
jambs and voussoirs are displaced in the cream
and black marble, and large halls adorned with
cornices and frames.
Location: La Paz city center, Murillo Square.
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