City Potosi - Bolivia

Tourism in Potosí

Potosí, located at 3826 meters above sea level, is one of the highest cities in the world. Next to the city is the Cerro Rico whose history goes back to the years of the Spanish conquest.

Potosí (Villa Imperial de Potosí) was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

How to get to Potosí

Potosí has ​​a new bus terminal to which different companies that connect the city with the rest of the country arrive and depart.

Estimated travel time by bus to and from Potosí: La Paz 11 hours. Sucre 3 hs. Uyuni 7 hs. Oruro 8 hs. Villazón 11 hs. Tarija 14 hs.

Places to visit in Potosí

Cathedral of Potosí

It was built in 1808 and stones and bricks were used, it has a central dome and two towers. The Cathedral of Potosí is one of the most characteristic temples of the Neoclassical architectural style. Inside there are important religious relics of gold and silver. Also an organ donated by Simon I. Patiño. A sector works as a museum of religious art.

Company Tower

One of the symbols of the city is the Tower of the Company, a religious convent of the eighteenth century, its construction was conceived as a triumphal arch with five openings, thirty-two salomonic columns and three half-orange domes. The Tower can be visited and from its top you get a privileged view of Potosí. Hours: 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

Mint

It is the main museum of Potosí. The building was built in 1759 to work as a mint. Today it is a museum with different rooms dedicated to painting and the arts, to history, numismatics and machinery to mint coins. The building with its patios, cedar doors, ceilings and sales is an unmissable architectural attraction.

Church and Convent of San Francisco

The current building began to be built in 1707. The church of San Francisco has a two-body tower, a beautiful portal and an external altarpiece for the cross, inside it kept its ornamentation of Baroque style, with architecture work in wood as the altarpieces and pulpit. In the temple we see the image of the Cristo de la Vera Cruz, which dates back to 1550, making it the oldest in Bolivia. Inside there is a museum that can be visited from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 2.34 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturdays only in the morning.

Visit to the Cerro Rico mines

An unforgettable tour is to visit the mines of Cerro Rico. In the hill there are different miners' cooperatives that extract minerals such as zinc and lead quite primitively. Many of these cooperatives receive tourists, so some travel agencies have an agreement to take visitors. The visit to the mines shows the harsh reality of the miners, who work very hard in extreme conditions, often suffering serious or fatal accidents, to extract the mineral that they exchange for little money.

The Pailaviri mine (4200Mt.) Belonging to COMIBOL, is the oldest mine in Potosí, in continuous operation since 1545; there the silver is extruded and now the tin is exploited. The hill came to have more than 5,000 bocaminas and sinkholes very many of them interconnected.

Before visiting the mine, it is recommended to go through the Mining Market, where they sell peaks, shovels, coca leaves, alcohol, wicks and dynamite cartridges. In the market it is a good idea to buy some present to take to the miners, such as coca.

Some tourists arrive at the mines on their own, taking some "combi" from the center of Potosí and on the hill they arrange the tour with the miners themselves. This option is more free but also more risky.

Other attractions of Potosí

Termas de Tarapaya

This volcanic lagoon is very frequent to take thermal baths with healing properties. It is 25 km away. from Potosí and can be easily reached in "micros" and "combis".

Lagoons Kari Kari

They were built by order of the Spanish Viceroy in the sixteenth century with very advanced techniques for their time. In the lagoons they serve to accumulate rainwater for domestic consumption. They are located 8 km from Potosí and in the area you can make different walks.

Miraflores thermal baths

Achieved in the colonial era, stone arches, between mixed with infinity of temperatures in its sulfurous thermal. It is 18 km away on the way to Oruro.