The discovery of ore in silver-rich Cerro Rico (rich hill) by Indian Diego Huallpa in 1544 prompted the foundation of the city of Potosà on April 10th, 1545 at the foot of the hill. The city was born under the name of Villa Imperial de Carlos V, in honour of then Spanish king Carlos V. Its founder was Juan de Villarroel. Large-scale excavation began in the site immediately and the first shipment of silver was sent to Spain. In 1672, a mint was established to coin silver and water reservoirs were built to fulfill the growing population's needs. At that time more than eighty six churches were built and the city's population increased to nearly 200,000, making it one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Latin America and in the world.
Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake and the center of a region where thousands of subsistence farmers make out a living fishing in its icy waters, growing potatoes in the rocky land at its edge or herding llama and alpaca at altitudes that leave Europeans and North Americans gasping for air. It is also where traces of the rich Indian past still stubbornly cling, resisting in past centuries the Spanish conquistadors' aggressive campaign to erase Inca and preInca cultures and, in recent times, the lure of modernization.
When Peruvians talk of turquoise blue Titicaca, they proudly note that it is so large it has waves. This, the most sacred body of water in the Inca empire and now the natural separation between Peru and Bolivia, has a surface area exceeding 8, 000 square kilometres (3, 100 square miles), not counting its more than 30 islands.
Valley of Yungas. This region is found almost three hours from La Paz. It is considered a transition zone since it appears at the descent of the highlands, more specifically in the peaks of the Royal Mountain Range, and it begins the lowlands or Bolivian Amazon. The transition in flora and fauna is a result of this, as well as the rise in temperature as the valley descends, submerging itself in the characteristically humid tropical land. The landscape is a combination of green hillsides, precipices, rivers, cascades, and moderate vegetation.
Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley in English) is situated about 10 kilometres from downtown La Paz, in the Pedro Domingo Murillo Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia. It is composed of an area where erosion has worn away the majority of a mountain. Due to being composed of clay rather than rock, the elements over the centuries have created a somewhat odd work of art here, like a desert filled with stalagmites. It is similar to another zone of La Paz that is known as the Animas Valley (the Valley of the Souls). The mountains surrounding La Paz are composed of clay. It is interesting to note that the mineral content of the mountains varies greatly between individual mountains. As a result, the sides of the mountains are different colors, creating very striking optical illusions. A majority of them are clear to light brown or beige color. There are also areas that are almost red, with sections of dark violet.
Tiwanaku (Spanish spellings: Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five hundred years. The ruins of the ancient city state are near the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca in the La Paz Department, Ingavi Province, about 72 km (44 miles) west of La Paz. The site was first recorded in written history by Spanish conquistador and self-acclaimed "first chronicler of the Indies" Cieza de Leon. Leon stumbled upon the remains of Tiwanaku in 1549 while searching for the Inca capital Collasuyu. Some have hypothesized that Tiwanaku's modern name is related to the Aymara term taypiqala, meaning "stone in the center", alluding to the belief that it lay at the center of the world. However, the name by which Tiwanaku was known to its inhabitants has been lost, as the people of Tiwanaku had no written language.
