Historic City of Sucre

Sucre stands on the site of Chuquisaca, a town of the Charcas people. In 1538 the Spanish founded La Plata, the City of Silver, here and laid it out on the grid of streets used in every Spanish city founded in the Americas in the 16th century. Wealth from the silver mines of nearby Potosí drove its economy, and its mild climate drew families grown rich on the silver trade.

In 1559 King Philip II of Spain set up the Audiencia of Charcas, a royal high court, in the city. La Plata was also a centre of learning and religion: the seminary of Santa Isabel de Hungría opened in 1595 and the University of San Francisco Xavier in 1624. Its 16th-century churches, among them San Lázaro (1544), San Francisco (1581) and Santo Domingo from the late 16th century, blend local building traditions with styles brought from Europe. On 25 May 1809 the bell of the Basilica of San Francisco was rung to start the independence movement.

In 1826 the city became the provisional capital of the new country, and a law of 12 July 1839 made it the capital and renamed it after Antonio José de Sucre, the independence leader and the republic's first president. As the silver industry of Potosí declined, the seat of government moved to La Paz in 1898. Sucre remains the constitutional capital and the seat of the Supreme Court. The hills of Sica-Sica and Churuquella around it have been protected from building since 1988, and the city was inscribed in 1991.