The oldest church in Potosi, San Francisco. First established in 1574, but rebuilt in 1707.
Lots of old churches, more than the girls fill.
A huge boliviastone - only found in Boliva
We did tour some crypts under a couple of old churches.
We did a night tour of one church; complete with ghost stories.
Cerro Rico, the mountain overlooking Potosi.
Typical streetscape of colonial Potosi and Plaza November 10 in the colonial centre
Potosi is a pretty quiet city, even in the evening.
There are about 25 old churches in the colonial area, some very fancy.
Up closer at Cerro Rico, the mine doesn't look so nice.
The mine tour was very interesting, but challenging to follow at times.
At almost 4100 meters, Potosi is one of the highest cities in the world. Way up on the altiplano, it's cold and dry and is hard to see why such a large city would be built in the middle of nowhere; except for the mountain of silver called Cerro Rico. The richest silver mine the world has ever seen, Potosi financed the Spanish royal family for hundreds of years. By the early 17th century, Potosi had a population of about 160,000: bigger than Madrid and about the same size of London or Paris at the time.
Today Potosi is a UNESCO world heritage site with hundreds of colonial era buildings, churches and art. The mine is still active with thousands of miners still looking for more silver but also finding tin and other metals.
