Bolivia´s genteel constitutional, judicial, and educational capital (pop. around 291,000) is popular among visitors both for its balmy, practically subtropical climate (thanks to its setting in a mountain-ringed valley) and and its handsome, whitewashed colonial architecture – comparable to the old quarters of Quito and Cuzco – dating back to its founding by the Spanish conquistadors in 1538 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old quarter´s Casa de la Libertad (House of Freedom, pictured here), built in 1621 as part of a Jesuit convent, is considered to be Bolivia´s single most important historic site because of its role in the country´s independence from Spain in 1825.

Dan Lundberg