Enjoying Bolivia 191legislative session and maintaining the seat of the Supreme
Court. Sucre’s political infl uence dates back to 1825, when
Liberator Antonio José de Sucre drafted a declaration of
Bolivian sovereignty, with the belated approval of his boss,
Simón Bolívar. At various times in its history, this city has
been called Charcas, La Plata and Chuquisaca, with the latter
name still used today.
Aesthetically oriented locals are secretly happy that La Paz
has become the de facto capital, liberating Sucre from the
contradictions of hyper-urbanisation.
Culturally, Sucre exerts more infl uence than its size; it is
the site of the Universidad de San Javier, founded a quarter
of a century before Harvard, in 1624.
Sucre’s colonial splendour is enhanced by a government
edict requiring all structures in the central city to be painted
white or annually whitewashed. Contrasting with varying
shades of white are the black wrought iron and carved wood
balconies and the heartwarming orange tile roofi ng. Float into
a Zen trance by gazing down on the city from La Recoleta
Convent’s stone mosaic plaza.
A more people oriented spot for observing life is a bench
in the wooded Plaza 25 de Mayo, where one can watch
university students, Quechua vendors and children playing on
the bronze lions surrounding the monument to Mariscal Sucre.
Every night, but especially at weekends, the Plaza becomes a
true community gathering place, the type of downtown that
has been foolishly dislodged in suburbanised cities. Students
and families with children fl ood the park, strolling over its
mosaic walks, cavorting, chatting and reading on benches
under street lamps until past midnight.
As a daytime gathering place, nearby Parque Bolívar rivals
the Plaza. A wide variety of trees satisfi es nature lovers.
Children are amused by boat rides, games and climbing bars
in the form of a mini Eiffel Tower.
Some years ago, a ‘guerrilla gardener’ attacked both the
Plaza 25 de Mayo and later Parque Bolívar by secretly planting
marijuana. He or she was never caught.
Sucre’s horticulture is complemented by its salon culture.
There is a German Goethe Institute, an Alliance Française and