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| Main street Potosi, Bolivia |
More than 4000 meters altitude. We don't have much time to walk around the city center, but that is not the problem.... it is the altitude (again) that is hanging like lead on our feet.
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| Tower of the Cathedral of Potosi. |
Potosi is famous because of the silver found in the "Cerro Rico" the rich mountain. The mining of sliver (for the king of Spain) started halfway the 16th century and went on well into the 18th century. Potosi with it's 200.000 inhabitants was larger that Paris at that time.
At first native people used to work in the mines, later on slaves from Africa were brought there. Working conditions in the mines were extremely bad. People were locked into the mines, changing only silver for food through a small hole. Never able to come out.
Now Potosi still has a population of 250.000 people, but it looked to me a quiet small town. The main attraction is the "
Casa de Moneda" (see next post). Here some pictures of the city and its people.
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| Potosi Cathedral. |
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| The main street. |
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A street in Potosi looking towards the Cerro Rico.
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Modern windows... only 1 layer of glass... and it can be very cold there.
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| It is no luxury to wear a warm shawl. |
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| Pleated skirts. |
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