The Complete List of Historical Places in Bolivia

Bolivia’s landscapes are a patchwork of ancient plazas, fortified terraces, colonial centers and sacred mounds that tell long, layered stories of its people. From high Andean ceremonial sites to riverside settlements, these places reveal changing technologies, beliefs and trade across centuries.

There are 95 Historical Places in Bolivia, ranging from Akapana Pyramid to Yotala. Entries are organized with Location (nearest city/region),Type & period,Significance (max 15 words); you’ll find below.

How do I choose which sites to see if I have limited time?

Focus on one region to minimize travel: around La Paz and Tiwanaku for Altiplano archaeology, Sucre and Potosí for colonial history, or the eastern lowlands for mission sites. Check access, seasonal weather and opening hours, then group nearby sites into day trips.

Do I need permits or guides to visit these historical places?

Rules vary: many sites have entrance fees or visitor rules, and some protected areas require permits. Hiring a local guide is often helpful for access, context and safety, and contributes to site preservation and the local economy.

Historical Places in Bolivia

Images and Descriptions

Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku stands as a major pre-Columbian archaeological site on the Altiplano. It contains monumental stone architecture and plazas from a sophisticated Andean civilization. It fits this list for its deep antique significance and monumental ruins.

Fuerte de Samaipata

Fuerte de Samaipata is a large rock complex with carved reliefs and pre-Columbian and colonial layers near Samaipata. It shows indigenous ritual art and later Spanish occupation.

Historic City of Sucre

Sucre is Bolivia’s constitutional capital with preserved colonial architecture. It holds civic, religious, and independence-era buildings of national heritage.

City of Potosí

Potosí grew rich from Cerro Rico silver mines in the colonial era. It features Spanish-era mansions, mining sites, and strong historical ties to empire wealth.

Jesuit Mission of San Javier

San Javier is a restored Jesuit mission in the Chiquitos region. It displays Baroque mission architecture and living indigenous crafts traditions.

Jesuit Mission of Concepción

Concepción is a Jesuit-reduction town with a restored mission church and town layout. It represents the Jesuit cultural and religious legacy.

Jesuit Mission of Santa Ana

Santa Ana hosts an 18th-century mission church and village plan in the Chiquitos area. It preserves musical and artisan traditions from mission times.

Jesuit Mission of San Miguel

San Miguel shows Jesuit mission architecture and carved woodwork. It remains an active parish with cultural festivals linked to mission history.

Jesuit Mission of San Rafael

San Rafael features a mission church and restored mission complex. It contributes to understanding Jesuit influence in eastern Bolivia.

Jesuit Mission of San José

San José contains colonial-era mission architecture and indigenous craft practices. It forms part of the Chiquitos mission network.

Casa de la Moneda

Casa de la Moneda in Potosí is the historic colonial mint museum. It explains silver coin production and colonial economic systems.

Casa de la Libertad

Casa de la Libertad in Sucre is the independence-era building where Bolivia declared its founding. It houses original documents and period rooms.

Incallajta

Incallajta is an Inca administrative and religious ruin in Cochabamba highlands. It shows Inca plaza planning, terraces, and stone constructions inland from the Altiplano.

Isla del Sol

Isla del Sol sits in Lake Titicaca with Inca and pre-Inca ruins and sacred sites. It offers ritual platforms, terraces, and strong Andean myth connections.

Isla de la Luna

Isla de la Luna contains Inca ruins linked to Titicaca myths. It features small temple remains and stone foundations on a rugged island shore.

Cerro Rico

Cerro Rico is the famed silver mountain above Potosí that fueled colonial wealth. It remains a working mine and a symbol of mining history and hardship.

Train Cemetery

The Train Cemetery near Uyuni displays rusting locomotives from Bolivia’s railway boom. It demonstrates industrial history and early transport networks.

Che Guevara Route (La Higuera)

The Che Guevara route includes La Higuera where Ernesto Che was captured and killed in 1967. It contains memorials and a small museum at the site.

San Francisco Basilica, La Paz

San Francisco Basilica is a central colonial church in La Paz with ornate baroque facade and carved interior. It anchors historic civic and religious life.

La Recoleta Monastery

La Recoleta in Sucre is a colonial monastery complex with cloisters and city views. It preserves monastic architecture and religious art.

Pulacayo

Pulacayo is a historic mining and railway town near Uyuni. It shows industrial mining facilities, workshops, and 19th-century railway heritage.

Calle Jaén

Calle Jaén is a restored colonial street in La Paz lined with museums and whitewashed houses. It illustrates urban colonial life and small civic museums.

Glorieta Castle

Glorieta Castle in Cochabamba is a 19th-century mansion with eclectic architecture and landscaped grounds. It reflects aristocratic life in the republican era.

Palacio Portales

Palacio Portales in Tarija is a grand early 20th-century mansion built by a mining magnate. It shows wealth from mining and neoclassical design.

Tarata

Tarata is a colonial town in Cochabamba with a preserved central plaza and historic churches. It keeps traditional crafts and local cultural heritage.

Qhapaq Ñan (Desaguadero section)

The Desaguadero section of Qhapaq Ñan preserves parts of the Inca road network. It shows engineered trails, stone markers, and connectivity across the Andes.

Sajama Lines

The Sajama Lines are straight geoglyph paths near Sajama National Park. They form ritual and landscape patterns linked to Aymara sacred geography.

Chullpas Policromas de Carangas

The Chullpas Policromas are pre-Inca painted funerary towers near Oruro. They display ancient burial architecture and colorful wall designs.

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace

This cathedral in La Paz serves as a major colonial-era church with religious art and civic importance. It anchors historic center worship and events.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre

Sucre’s cathedral is a large colonial religious complex with ornate altars and artwork. It symbolizes religious power during colonial and republican times.

Church of San Lorenzo de Carangas

San Lorenzo de Carangas church is a rural colonial church with baroque elements and local patron devotion. It preserves regional liturgical traditions.

Convent of Santa Teresa

The Convent of Santa Teresa in Sucre is a colonial convent with conventual rooms, altars, and a museum. It reflects female religious life in colonial times.

Rock Art of Incamachay & Pumamachay

Incamachay and Pumamachay rock art sites hold prehistoric paintings and engravings. They record ancient symbols and human presence before the Inca.

Tupiza Region

Tupiza region features canyon landscapes and colonial-era trails used in historic transport and rebellion routes. It links natural drama with historical pathways.

Sorata

Sorata is a mountain town with colonial architecture and access to Andean trails. It served as a regional administrative and commercial center in past centuries.

Coroico

Coroico sits in the Yungas with colonial-era plantations and Afro-Bolivian and indigenous cultural traditions. It shows historic lowland-highland connections.

La Coronilla Hill

La Coronilla Hill in Cochabamba hosts early colonial defensive structures and city views. It records urban development during colonial expansion.

Fortín Boquerón

Fortín Boquerón is a historic military post linked to regional conflicts and frontier defense. It shows military architecture and border history.

Cal Orck’o Dinosaur Footprints

Cal Orck’o near Sucre contains thousands of dinosaur track fossils on a vertical quarry wall. It provides deep-time natural history within Bolivian heritage.

Pucara de Yako

Pucara de Yako is a pre-Inca fortification site with defensive walls and terraces. It illustrates pre-Columbian settlement and regional defense strategies.

Witches’ Market (Mercado de las Brujas)

The Witches’ Market in La Paz sells traditional remedies and ritual items tied to indigenous beliefs. It reflects living cultural practices and ethnobotany.

Huatajata Reed Boat Builders

Huatajata on Lake Titicaca preserves reed-boat building traditions and Aymara craft skills. It connects to Titicaca maritime heritage and ancient craft continuity.

Chipaya Churches

Chipaya churches in the highlands show hybrid colonial and indigenous architecture and community religious practice. They mark cultural persistence of the Chipaya people.

Curahuara de Carangas Church

Curahuara de Carangas church is a well-preserved colonial church with frescoes and a baroque altarpiece. It is an important rural religious landmark.

Palacio de la Florida

Palacio de la Florida in Sucre is a colonial-era mansion turned museum and cultural space. It reflects elite urban life and public history displays.

National Museum of Archaeology

The National Museum of Archaeology in La Paz houses pre-Columbian artifacts from across Bolivia. It provides context for ancient cultures and material history.

National Ethnography and Folklore Museum (MUSEF)

MUSEF in La Paz displays indigenous cultures, textiles, and ritual objects. It focuses on living traditions and cultural diversity.

Sucre’s General Cemetery

Sucre’s General Cemetery contains monumental tombs and mausoleums of notable Bolivian figures. It charts republican history through funerary architecture.

Catavi Mining Complex

Catavi is a historic mining and labor site linked to 20th-century worker struggles. It shows industrial heritage and mining community history.

Vallegrande

Vallegrande is a valley town linked to the 20th-century revolutionary period and Che Guevara history. It holds memorials and historical houses.

Totora

Totora is a lakeside town on the southern Salar with colonial and indigenous ties. It serves as a base for visiting salt flats and local cultural sites.

Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica

The cathedral in Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a main colonial and republican-era church. It anchors the city’s historic plaza and civic identity.

Oruro’s Socavón Sanctuary

The Socavón Sanctuary in Oruro hosts the famous carnival and miners’ devotion. It mixes mining heritage with strong religious and cultural rituals.

Tarija’s Casa Dorada

Casa Dorada in Tarija is a colonial building with a golden facade used for cultural displays. It reflects regional colonial architecture and civic history.

Chacaltaya Laboratory

Chacaltaya Laboratory is a high-altitude research station linked to glaciology and mountaineering history. It documents environmental change in the Andes.

Choro Trail

The Choro Trail is an ancient mountain trail connecting La Paz to Yungas valleys. It preserves Inca and pre-Inca route engineering and trekking heritage.

Takesi Trail

The Takesi Trail is a restored Inca road section with stone steps and terraces in Cochabamba. It shows ancient transport networks and rural heritage.

Kalasasaya Temple

Kalasasaya in Tiwanaku is a large ceremonial enclosure with monoliths and sunken courts. It represents central ritual architecture of the Tiwanaku culture.

Semi-Subterranean Temple

The Semi-Subterranean Temple in Tiwanaku contains carved stone stelae and ritual spaces below plaza level. It is central to Tiwanaku religious practice.

Akapana Pyramid

The Akapana is a terraced pyramid in Tiwanaku with massive stone blocks and raised platforms. It functions as a focal ceremonial mound of the site.

Pilgrimage Stairs of the Inca

Pilgrimage stairs are Inca-era stairways at sacred sites linking highlands and ceremonial places. They show ritual movement and infrastructure.

Chincana Ruins

Chincana contains a network of carved stone chambers and channels, often associated with ritual or storage. It adds depth to pre-Columbian architectural variety.

Ingavi Battlefield

Ingavi Battlefield marks an 1841 battle between Bolivia and Peru. It holds monuments and recalls republican military history.

Loma Suárez

Loma Suárez is a local hill site with colonial-era remains and lookout points. It contributes to regional historical landscapes.

Hydraulic Cultures of the Llanos de Moxos

The Llanos de Moxos hydraulic earthworks are ancient raised fields, canals, and mounds showing large-scale pre-Columbian landscape engineering.

Church of Sica Sica

Sica Sica church is a colonial church with baroque features and regional religious importance in the highlands. It preserves local devotional traditions.

Church of Laja

Laja church is a colonial religious site near Lake Titicaca with painted interiors and historical religious art. It illustrates colonial evangelization in rural areas.

Copacabana Basilica

Copacabana Basilica is a major pilgrimage church on Lake Titicaca dedicated to the Virgin of Copacabana. It blends Catholic and Andean religious practice.

Quillacas Sanctuary

Quillacas Sanctuary is an archaeological and ritual area with pre-Columbian ceremonial remains. It stands out for ritual landscape use in the high plateau.

Presidential Palace (Palacio Quemado)

Palacio Quemado in La Paz is the historic presidential palace on Plaza Murillo. It houses government history and is a focal civic landmark.

Church of Carabuco

Carabuco church is a colonial-era church in the Altiplano with local artistic elements. It represents village-scale religious architecture and community identity.

Uyuni’s Pulacayo-bound Railway

The Uyuni-Pulacayo railway corridor preserves early 20th-century rail infrastructure that supported mining and regional transport history.

The Devil’s Gate (Puerta del Diablo)

Puerta del Diablo is a natural rock formation near La Paz with cultural legends and scenic views. It links natural features with local folklore.

Chua Vicacha

Chua Vicacha is an archaeological site with pre-Columbian remains and landscape features in the highlands. It contributes to regional prehistoric records.

Museum of the Litoral

The Museum of the Litoral in La Paz documents Bolivia’s coastal history and the War of the Pacific. It preserves military archives and national memory.

Tarabuco Market

Tarabuco Market is a traditional indigenous market known for textile weaving patterns and cultural dress. It connects living craft traditions to historical identity.

San Calixto Observatory

San Calixto Observatory in La Paz is a historic astronomical site with 19th-century instruments and scientific history links to Andean astronomy.

Villa Abecia & Camargo

Villa Abecia and Camargo are historic towns with colonial layout, mission churches, and regional trade history in southern Bolivia.

Rurrenabaque Town

Rurrenabaque is a river port gateway to the Amazon with colonial-era trade routes and indigenous cultural links. It anchors eco-cultural travel into the lowlands.

Guayaramerín Town

Guayaramerín sits on the Beni River border and reflects frontier trade, Jesuit mission influence, and rubber-era history in the Amazonian lowlands.

Cobija City

Cobija is a coastal-border city in northern Bolivia with frontier and export history. It shows modern development layered on Amazonian trade routes.

Puerto Suárez

Puerto Suárez is an eastern border town with railroad and river links to Brazil. It highlights regional transport and frontier economic history.

Chulumani

Chulumani is a Yungas town with colonial-era hacienda sites and agricultural history tied to coca, coffee, and regional trade.

San Francisco Convent, Tarija

The San Francisco Convent in Tarija is a colonial religious complex with cloisters and art. It marks regional missionary and civic history.

San Francisco Convent, Potosí

Potosí’s San Francisco Convent is a baroque-era religious site that served social and religious roles during mining booms.

Plaza Murillo

Plaza Murillo in La Paz is the political and historic center containing government buildings and monuments tied to national history.

Evo Morales Museum

The Evo Morales Museum records recent political history and indigenous movements tied to the Morales era. It documents contemporary political change.

Church of San Pedro, La Paz

San Pedro church is a colonial religious site in La Paz with historic architecture and links to local parish life.

Church of Santo Domingo, La Paz

Santo Domingo church is a colonial-era Dominican church with carved altars and historic art in central La Paz.

El Alto’s Feria 16 de Julio

Feria 16 de Julio in El Alto is a major Sunday market with cultural goods, traditional dress, and Aymara trade traditions at urban scale.

Tambo Quirquincho Museum

Tambo Quirquincho Museum in Cochabamba displays colonial and republican artifacts, local crafts, and civic history collections.

National Art Museum

The National Art Museum in La Paz preserves Bolivian painting and colonial religious art. It contextualizes aesthetic history across eras.

Yotala

Yotala is a small town with colonial-era churches and local craft production. It exemplifies rural colonial heritage in the valleys.

Corani Lake Power Plant

Corani Lake and its power plant reflect 20th-century hydroelectric development and industrial heritage in Cochabamba region.

Camiri

Camiri is an oil town in Santa Cruz department with petroleum industry history and frontier settlement patterns tied to extractive economies.

Historical Places in Other Countries