The real city in the sky! The highest capital in the world, commuting by cable car, the hidden witch market in the city

Bolivia is located in the center of South America, bordering Brazil to the northeast, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina and Chile to the south, and Peru to the west. It has a land area of ??1.0985 million square kilometers and a population of 10.39 million. She has a very special point, that is, she has two capitals: La Paz and Sucre, the former is the seat of the Bolivian government and parliament, and the latter is the seat of the Supreme Law.

La Paz is located in the canyon between Mount Imapu and Mount Illimani in South America, with an average altitude of 3,600 meters, making it the highest-altitude capital in the world. In Spanish, La Paz is recorded as "La Paz", which means "peace and tranquility". It turned out to be just a small Indian village. In 1548, people discovered sand gold in the La Paz River. Spanish General Alonso · De Mendoza therefore ordered the city to be built.

Today, the chief village woman of the Rat Emperor will take everyone to see this city that grows on the clouds - La Paz.

La Paz is not only the seat of the Bolivian government, the largest city in the country, and an important political, economic and cultural center, but it is also the city with the highest concentration of indigenous Indian residents in the entire country. Coupled with immigrants from other countries, La Paz is different. The interweaving and fusion of cultures ultimately gives La Paz a unique look that is extremely rich in layers.

The entire city of La Paz can be divided into three major areas: El Alto, Calacoto, and Old city.

El The Atuo area is located near the airport. It is a poor area and a residential area for migrant workers, and the public security is relatively chaotic. The Southern District is a new district and is also a rich area. It is similar to most of our development districts, and most of the modern commercial centers are gathered here. For travelers, the old town is a real treasure area. It is worth spending 2 days to explore in depth, and it is also the focus of this article.

The layout of the cities built by the Spanish remains highly consistent: the central location is the Grand Square, and the circle around the square is the core institutions, including the Presidential Palace, the Congress Building and the Cathedral, etc., and further outside, Residential areas swinging out in circles.

The same goes for La Paz.

Plaza Murillo

The huge bronze statue standing in the center of the square is Pedro Domingo Murillo, the pioneer of South America's struggle for national independence, and he is also the founder of this square. Origin of the name. Murillo Plaza is located in the center of La Paz, opposite the Bolivian Presidential Palace. It was built in 1558. It was originally called Plaza de Armas. The C position is the Poseidon Fountain, which was replaced by Murillo in 1909. This heroic statue was created by the Italian sculptor Ferruccio Cantera and has an obvious neoclassical style.

There are 8 other female sculptures around the main statue. 4 are the gods of time, symbolizing spring, summer, autumn and winter; the other 4 represent art, symbolizing painting, architecture, sculpture and music.

Many parents bring their children to feed the pigeons here.

Basilica de San Francisco (Basilica de San Francisco)

The Basilica de San Francisco (monastery) was started in 1548 by Frederic de Morales and completed in 1581 Year. It collapsed due to a snowstorm in 1610, and the reconstruction project began in 1743 and lasted 10 years.

The church's exterior walls and interior decoration are a combination of Spanish Baroque art and local art.

In 1790, the main decorative carvings on the exterior walls of the church were completed. You can still see some interesting elements carved by craftsmen at that time, such as the South American lychee, a characteristic fruit of South America. The renovated stone pillars above the main entrance symbolize the three important cultures of La Paz: Tiahuanaco culture, Inca culture and modern culture. What makes this church unique from others is that it has only one bell tower, unlike most churches with double churches. Symmetrical traditional approach.

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 16:00-18:00

Tickets: Church free, museum 7 Bolivianos

Witch Market

Bolivia not only has vast plateau scenery, but it is also one of the countries with the best preserved Indian culture and traditions in South America. Half of the total population is Indian, and they still continue their ancient way of life. If you want to experience the authentic and mysterious Indian lifestyle up close, the Witches Market in La Paz cannot be missed.

The Witches Market (Mercado de las Brujas) is actually a street, and it is the most unique place in La Paz. The stone-paved streets slide diagonally toward the center of the city. The nuns who guard the stalls wear silk shawls with long tassels, knee-length pleated skirts, and double thick braids. A fat man was selling witchcraft props that they believed in.

Yes, we can not only buy alpaca products and other popular local Bolivian souvenirs here, but we can also see witches and their cooking props.

Cable Car

La Paz is the highest capital in the world. For the residents of this city, it seems like they are living in a "bowl".

From the bottom of the bowl in the city center to the surrounding mountains, the altitude difference is hundreds of meters, and houses of various sizes are densely built on the walls of the bowl.

From a certain perspective, La Paz is a bit like Chongqing, with slopes everywhere and no regular roads.

The special environment has given rise to two characteristics: one is that the porters here are particularly popular, and the other is that the cable car has been put on the list of urban transportation.

The cable car system is said to be made in Switzerland. You know, a cable car ride in Switzerland costs dozens of euros for sightseeing, but here you can overlook the City in the Sky for only 3 yuan equivalent to RMB.

The cable car in La Paz is divided into three lines: red, yellow and green. It is the longest indoor transportation cable car in the world.

We took a taxi from Plaza Murillo to Estación Central. After buying the tickets, we waited in line for more than an hour before finally getting on the cable car.

The cable cars are actually very dense, but there are more people sitting on them...

The architectural style of the Central Station is a fusion of modern and traditional.

After the opening of the first red line in 2014, La Paz already has as many as 10 cable car lines and 36 cable car stations in 2019, connecting different places in La Paz and El Alto in all directions. Due to the cable car The role of the bus in La Paz is for public transportation rather than sightseeing, so the ticket price is surprisingly cheap: only equivalent to 3 yuan.

We took the world's highest cable car system directly to the satellite city of El Alto in La Paz - an altitude of 4095 meters.

Although El Alto is a satellite city, its population has surpassed La Paz - nearly 1 million. This may be the only million-dollar city in the world with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters.

After getting off the cable car in El Alto, don’t rush into the city. The terrace here is a good viewing platform. Not only can you overlook the city in the sky, but if you are lucky, you can also see the snow-capped mountains.

Apart from the cable car station, there is a market that is very popular among locals. The clothes are not new and even look quite tacky. However, the food stalls are easy to browse and they sell basically everything. Local food is a great place to experience local specialties.

Riding the Red Line cable car also has an unexpected bonus.

When you look down in the cable car, you will see rows of neat factory-like buildings. I didn’t understand what they were at first, but when I took a closer look I realized they were cemeteries.

Sure enough, there is a thin line between life and death. This structure is no different from the living world: those with average economic conditions live in cubicles, and those with better conditions live in villas, haha.

With an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters, there is no regular flat road, transportation relies on cable cars, a mysterious witch market is hidden in the city center, and cemeteries and communities are adjacent to each other. La Paz is indeed the magic city - the magical city. All.

Do you yearn for a place like this?