Potosi - City Information

Find Hotel reservations, tours, offers, attractions in Potosi, Bolivia! Potosi, at the foot the Cerro Rico, is claimed to be the highest city in the world.

Potosi is the capital of the department of Potosi. It is claimed to be the highest city in the world. It lies at the foot the Cerro de Potosi, sometimes referred to as the Cerro Rico ("rich mountain"), a mountain of silver ore, which has always dominated the city. Cerro de Potosi's peak is 4,824 meters (15,827 feet) above sea level.

Founded April 1, 1545
Population (2005) - Total 134,281
539km (334 miles) SE of La Paz; 162km (100 miles) SW of Sucre; 219km (136 miles) NE of Uyuni.
Language: Spanish - Quechua
Airport: Capitan Rojas with local flights.

The Potosi Department of is located at the southwest of Bolivia. It has a border with Argentina and Chile.
Potosi is the highest Department of Bolivia (4,000 meters above the sea level).
Extension: 118.218 km2 .
Population: 645.889 habitants

In the 17th century, Potosi was one of the richest cities in the world, thanks to Cerro Rico (the Rich Hill). It's been said that enough silver was pulled from the bowels of Cerro Rico to build a bridge from Potosi all the way to Madrid, and enough people died inside the mines to build a bridge of bones all the way back. It is reputed that at one time mules were shoed with silver due to the difficulty of getting supplies of iron to the city.

Nowadays, visitors can still see the two disparate sides of the city. The silver supply has been depleted, but 7,000 workers still spend their days inside Cerro Rico searching for tin, lead, and new silver deposits. On average, they make about $100 a month. You can take tours that will bring you face to face with these miners and the dreary conditions in which they work. But after you leave the mines and take a nice hot shower, you can then tour the sights that evoke the city's former glory.

Potosi is not a heartwarming place. At more than 3,900m (12,792 ft.), it's one of the highest cities in the world. Even when the sun is shining bright, there is always a bitter chill in the air. When you're here, it really feels as if you're in the middle of nowhere. It's painful to visit the mines and learn about the past exploitation of these workers, but it's also fascinating to see the remains of a place that was once the home of some of the wealthiest people in the world.

According to legend, circa 1462, Huayna Capac, the eleventh monarch of Peru, "set out for Ccolque Porco and Andaccaua, the location of his mines from which were taken innumerable arrobas of silver." (An arroba is a Spanish unit of weight equivalent to approximately 25 pounds.) "Before leaving there, he saw Potosi, and admiring its beauty and grandeur, he said speaking to those of his Court: 'This doubtless must have much silver in its heart'; whereby he subsequently ordered his vassals to go to Ccolque Porco ... and work the mines and remove from them all the rich metal. They did so, and having brought their tools of flint and reinforced wood, they climbed the hill; and after having probed for its veins, they were about to open those veins when they heard a frightening thunderous noise which shook the whole hill, and after this, they heard a voice which said: 'Do not take the silver from this hill, because it is destined for other masters.' Amazed at hearing this reasoning, the Incan vassals desisted in their purpose and returned to Porco and told the king what had happened; relating the occurrence in their own language, on coming to the word noise, they said 'Potocsi' which means there was a great thunderous noise, and from that later was derived (corrupting a letter) the name of Potosi."

In 1553, the city of Potosi received the title of imperial city on behalf of Carlos V, King of Spain. At that moment of the history it was difficult to foresee the decline of the splendid village that at the present time, preserve only a few gleams of its splendid past.

Silent and solitary streets in Potosi (4,070 m.a.s.l.). Old houses, narrow sidewalks. At the end, the image of the Cerro Rico dominates the highland; even now dozens of miners get lost in its tunnels and mine entrances. There are no longer deliriums of silver in this old Imperial Village, that in 1987, was declared Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO.

Potosi has kept monumental temples, which were constructed during the time of prosperity of the department, when a great deal of wealth was extracted from the "Cerro Rico" (Rich Mountain). Although this is all in the past, Potosi still has a great deal of wealth, mostly tin, zinc, antimony and wolfram.

In Potosi there are dazzling religious and civilian constructions, such as the "Casa de la Moneda" (House of the Coin). It is also highly recommended, in order to understand the life in Potosi, to visit the mines.

Part of the charm of Potosi includes the surrounding towns, where the local residents are known for the colorful outfits that they wear, completely manufactured by themselves.

Near Potosi visitors can enjoy of thermal waters and other fascinating natural attractions, such as the "Salar de Uyuni" (Salt Flats of Uyuni) and the amazing colored lagoons.

"I am rich Potosi, The treasure of the world...And the envy of kings."

Founded in 1546 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, becoming one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world with a population exceeding 200,000 people.

In Spanish there is still a saying, valer un potosi, "to be worth a potosi" (that is, "a fortune"). For Europeans, Peru (Bolivia was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and was known as Alto Peru before becoming independent) was a mythical land of riches. Potosi appears as an idiom for "extraordinary richness" in Miguel de Cervantes' famous novel satirizing chivalry, Don Quixote (second part, cap. LXXI). One theory holds that the mint mark of Potosi (the letters "PTSI" superimposed on one another) is the origin of the dollar sign.

The tale of Potosi's origins begins in 1544 when a local Inca, Diego Huallpa, searching for an escaped llama, stopped to build a fire at the foot of the mountain known in Quechua as 'Potojsi' (meaning 'thunder' or 'explosion', although it might also have stemmed from potoj , 'the springs'). The fire grew so hot that the earth beneath it started to melt, and shiny liquid oozed from the ground.

Diego realized he'd run across a commodity for which the Spanish conquerors had quite an appetite. Perhaps he also remembered the legend in which Inca Huayna Capac had been instructed not to dig in the hill of Potojsi, but to leave the metal alone, as it was intended for others.

Whatever the truth, the Spanish learned of the enormous wealth buried in the mountain and determined that it warranted attention. On April 1 (according to some sources, April 10), 1545, the Villa Imperial de Carlos V was founded at the foot of Cerro Rico and large-scale excavation began. In the time it takes to say 'Get down and dig,' thousands of indigenous slaves were pressed into service and the first of the silver headed for Spain.

It is from Potosi that most of the silver shipped through to the Spanish mainland came. According to official records, 45,000 tons of pure silver were mined from Cerro Rico from 1556 to 1783. Of this total, 7,000 tons went to the Spanish monarchy.
Indian labour, forced by Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa through the traditional Incan mita institution of contributed labor, came to die by the thousands, not simply from exposure and brutal labor, but by mercury poisoning: in the patio process the silver-ore, having been crushed to powder by hydraulic machinery, was cold-mixed with mercury and trodden to an amalgam by the native workers with their bare feet. The mercury was then driven off by heating, producing deadly vapors.

The work was dangerous and so many workers died that the Spanish imported African slaves to the labor force. The descendants of the few to survive now mainly live in the Yungas (the transition zone between dry highlands and humid lowlands).

To compensate for the diminishing indigenous labor force, the colonists made a request in 1608 to the Crown in Madrid to begin allowing for the importation of 1500 to 2000 African slaves per year. An estimated total of 30,000 African slaves were taken to Potosi throughout the colonial era. African slaves were also forced to work in the Casa de la Moneda as acemilas humanas (human mules). Since mules would die after couple of months pushing the mills, the colonists replaced the four mules with twenty African slaves.

In 1572, in order to increase productivity, the Viceroy of Toledo instituted the Ley de la Mita, which required all indigenous and African slaves over age 18 to work in shifts of 12 hours. These miners, who came to be known as mitayos , would remain underground without seeing daylight for four months at a time.

Naturally, they didn't last long. Heavy losses were also incurred among those who worked in the ingenios (smelting mills), as the silversmelting process involved contact with deadly mercury. It's estimated that as many as eight million people died from the appalling conditions.

In 1672 a mint was established, reservoirs were constructed and exotic European consumer goods found their way up the transport trails from Arica and Callao. Amid the mania, more than 80 churches were constructed, and Potosi's population grew to nearly 200,000, making it one of the largest cities in the world. One politician of the period put it succinctly: 'Potosi was raised in the pandemonium of greed at the foot of riches discovered by accident.'

As with most boom towns, Potosi's glory was not to last. The silver output began to decline in the early 19th century, and the city was looted in the independence struggles of Alto Peru. The population dropped to less than 10,000, and the mid-19th century drop in silver prices dealt a blow from which Potosi has never completely recovered.

Potosi frequently passed between the control of Royalist and Patriot forces. Major blunders by the First Auxiliary Army from Buenos Aires (under the command of Juan Jose Castelli) led to an increased sense that independence was needed and fostered resentment towards him. During that occupation there was anarchy and martial excess, and Potosi became unfriendly to the point where it could not be defended.

When the second auxiliary army arrived it was received well, and the commander, Manuel Belgrano did much to heal the past wounds inflicted by the tyrannical minded Castelli. When that army was forced to retreat, Belgrano took the calculated decision to blow up the Casa de Moneda. Since the locals refused to evacuate this explosion would have resulted in many casualties, but by then the fuse was already lit. Disaster was averted not by the Argentinians who at that time were fleeing, but by locals who put the fuse out. Two more expeditions from Buenos Aires would seize Potosi.

After 1800 the silver mines became depleted, making tin the main product. This eventually led to a slow economic decline. Still, the mountain continues to be mined for silver to this day. Due to poor worker conditions (lack of protective equipment from the constant inhalation of dust), the miners still have a short life expectancy with most of them contracting silicosis and dying around 40 years of age. It is estimated that, in the past years of indigenous labour, roughly 8 million Indians died, "eaten" by the Rich Hill.

In the present century only the demand for tin has rescued Potosi from obscurity and brought a slow but steady recovery. Zinc and lead have now taken over from tin as Bolivia's major metallic exports. Silver extraction continues only on a small scale, but reminders of the city's grand colonial past are still evident.

Most of the operations in Cerro Rico today are in the control of miner-owned cooperatives, which operate under conditions that have changed shamefully little from the colonial period. There's little prospect of change in sight, as the miners barely extract enough ore to keep them in bread. The dream of the lucky strike (there are still a few) keeps them going.

The city of San Luis Potosi in Mexico was named after Potosi in Bolivia. In the United States, the name Potosi was optimistically given to lead-mining towns of Potosi, Wisconsin and Potosi, Missouri, and also to the silver-mining town of Potosi, Nevada.

In 1987 Unesco named Potosi a World Heritage Site in recognition of its rich and tragic history and its wealth of colonial architecture.

Cold and dry at almost the whole department and moderate at the valleys. One of the coldest areas is at the Salar de Uyuni zone, where the temperature is often 20 C below cero.

With relatively consistent weather, anytime is a good time to visit Potosi. If you're not a fan of snowy conditions though, best to stick to the summer months which are slightly warmer and just a little wet. The best time to visit Potosi is between the months of April and May, when the rains that are not very frequent have concluded and the cold is not that bad yet.

By Bolivian standards, Potosi is chilly (particularly at night) and it is one of the few big cities where you can see snow. What little rain there is falls mostly in summer and, although the temperature range throughout the day can be great, it varies little from month to month.

Any time of the year that you decide to visit Potosi, you will feel the cold wind that descends from the mountains. Coats and smoky cups of mate de coca, will be necessary to allow you to get to know the streets and architectural monuments of the city.

By Plane

There is a small airport, Aeropuerto Capitan Rojas, in Potosi but only small charter planes from Cochabamba land there. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is in Sucre. From there, you can take a bus for the 162km (100-mile) ride to Potosi.

By Bus

The Potosi bus station is on the edge of town at the end of Avenida Universitaria (near the intersection of Av. Sevilla). Buses from Santa Cruz go through Cochabamba or Sucre. Buses depart from Sucre in the morning, midafternoon, and early evening (around 5pm). Buses depart from Uyuni at 10am and 7pm.

Numerous flotas (long-distance bus companies) offer an overnight service to La Paz (11hr) via Oruro (8hr); you can also opt for a bus cama (sleeper; 10hr). Buses also go to Tupiza (7hr), Villazon (10-12hr), Tarija (14hr) and Cochabamba (12-15hr). Several flotas also have services to Santa Cruz (16-20hr). Quite a few flotas also go to Sucre (3.5hr).

There are several daily buses from Oruro (about 6 hours).

There are hourly connections with Sucre (3 hours).

Morning and evening buses to Tupiza (7-8 hours).

From the bus terminal it is a 30 minute walk uphill to the city center.

Internacional Access routes

From Argentina: By land or train from Buenos Aires, connection at Villazon.
From Chile: By train from Antofagasta.

Festivals:

Chutillos: 24th August
Exaltacion del Senor de la Vera Cruz en la Iglesia de San Lorenzo: 14th September.

Potosi's most unusual event, Fiesta del Espiritu, takes place on the last three Saturdays of June and the first Saturday of August. It's dedicated to the honor of Pachamama, the Earth Mother, and involves a llama sacrifice followed by a feast, much singing and dancing and, of course, excessive drinking.

Gastronomy:

Cazuela: This favorite dish is basically a peanut soup, accompanied by potatoes, meat and fish, plus rice and noodles.

Aji de Pataskha (Spicy Pataskha): This dish is made with "mote" or peeled corn, seasoned with Aji (Aji: Bolivian spicy condiment, very hot) and accompanied with pieces of pork meat.

Chambergos: This dessert is basically a ring-shaped pastry made of flour and decorated with brown sugar.