Potosi Don't put anything here Page Content Page Name (for URL) Page Title Breadcrumb Text After finding a hotel (US$10 for room with an iffy bathroom) and getting lunch (Bs.10 for a set menu, which included a decent soup and three options for the second - an excellent suckling pig, and two mediocre chicken dishes), we proceeded to one of Potosi's main sites - the royal mint (Casa de Moneda). Potosi's main claim to fame was the silver that was mined in the nearby [Cerro Rico](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/all/albums/2005-12-08-a-sucre-potosi/20051208_020_4457). The scale of production was such that Potosi at some point had larger population than any of the European cities and millions of African slaves were brought into Potosi, most of whom died within months. (There are is hardly any African descendants in Bolivia today.) Over the centuries, Cerro Rico has yielded, some say, over 70,000 metric tons of silver - enough, some again say, to build a silver bridge from Bolivia to Spain. With so much silver produced, having a local mint is hardly surprising. Potosi's Casa de Moneda occupies the whole block and shows a variety of coins minted in Potosi and the equipment to use those coins. At the end of the trip you can mint yourself a coin from lead or silver blanks that you can buy in the museum. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_029_9307 Steam coin presses 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_034_8944 Clockwork of an antique safe 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_038_2737 Statues in storage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_045_7637 Striking a coin 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_047_5271 The stamps 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_048_4820 The resulting coin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_025_1211 A bell of Casa de Moneda 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_041_6604 A door of the building 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_039_1774 A door brought from a church 2005-12-08-b-casa-de-moneda/20051208_035_6013 An altar from a church ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Apart from the coin related exhibits, Casa de Moneda had a collection of art in "mestizo" style that fused together European and Andean elements (a similar style is called "cusceño" in Peru). The highlight was the XVIII century ["Virgen del Cerro"](http://mrhalliday.com/2001/Bolivia/Painting.jpg), which explicitly unites the Virgin and a mountain in a single image, which I found interesting since most of the other paintings of the Virgin from "mestizo" painters of that century merge the two more implicitly, giving the Virgin's dress a mountain shape. The mint also serves as storage for a variety of random objects, including complete altars from some of the Potosi's churches (which, we were told, now house schools). Potosi is also full of beautiful colonial architecture, constructed in flowery, hyper-baroque "mestizo" style. While we didn't have an opportunity to go inside many churches, we did visit the inside, the catacombs and the roof of Convento de San Francisco which provided a nice view of the city. <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_054_3103 Courtyard of the Convent of San Francisco 2005-12-08-e-potosi-misc/20051208_083_9485 More Tuto campaign propaganda 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_069_6157 Cerro Rico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_070_2260 The roof of the Convent of San Francisco 2005-12-09-a-potosi-morning/20051209_007_2112 Cathedral detail 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_076_0454 The roof of the Convent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_068_2329 A view from the Convent 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_058_5179 Inside the Convent church 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_053_6880 Kids near the Convent ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2005-12-08-d-convent/20051208_052_1129 Convent detail 2005-12-08-e-potosi-misc/20051208_089_4835 Calle Quijarro 2005-12-09-a-potosi-morning/20051209_011_9243 Iglesia de San Agustin 2005-12-09-a-potosi-morning/20051209_029_6960 Iglesia de San Agustin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> We ended up skipping, however, on what is perhaps Potosi's single biggest tourist attraction - the still functioning mines. We had a long road ahead of us and needed to move on to Uyuni. Also, going into hot mines full of noxious gases to see people who are desperate enough to work in such inhumane conditions and who, our book said, tend to die of silicosis pneumonia within 10-15 years, just didn't feel like our kind of fun. Advanced Fields Category 2002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014E. AsiaE. EuropeL's FamilyL's FriendsN. AmericaN. EuropeS. AmericaS. AsiaW. EuropeY & LY's FamilyY's Friends Prototype Redirect Permissions0 Actions Config Markup Module HTML/Meta/Keywords Don't put anything here HTML/Meta/Description Save Hook HTML Fields Main Head Body Header Menu Logo Page Content Template Sidebar Footer Tags Allowed for XSSFilter Don't put anything here HTTP Fields Cache-Control Expires Don't put anything here Guru Fields Templates Translations Fields Edit UI Admin Edit UI Don't put anything here A summary of your changes Edit Summary Don't put anything here save preview cancel
