Sacred places in Bolivia: temples, churches, shrines and mosques

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All 5 pages now have an English version.

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Catholicism · La Paz · 1583 (rước tượng Đức Mẹ), đền thờ hiện nay khởi công 1668, khánh thành 1678, hoàn tất 1805Basilica of Our Lady of CopacabanaBasílica de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana, Santuario de Copacabana, Virgen de Copacabana, Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana

The national Marian shrine of Our Lady of Copacabana, Patroness of Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca at an elevation of roughly 3,841 meters. The gilt maguey-wood image of Our Lady of Candlemas was sculpted by Francisco Tito Yupanqui, a descendant of the Inca ruler Huayna Capac, and enthroned on February 2, 1583. The present whitewashed sanctuary with glazed-tile domes was begun in 1668 after plans by Francisco Jiménez de Sigüenza, completed in 1805, and elevated to a minor basilica in 1940.

Minor Basilica (1940, some sources cite 1949), National Monument of Bolivia (1945)Copacabana, bán đảo Copacabana bên hồ Titicaca

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Photo: Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Pedro Domingo Murillo Province, La Paz Department · Tu viện và nhà thờ đầu tiên do tu sĩ Francisco de los Ángeles Morales lập ngày 2 tháng 8 năm 1549 bên bờ sông Choqueyapu (sập do bão tuyết khoảng năm 1610 tới 1612); ngôi vương cung thánh đường đá chạm khắc hiện tại khởi dựng năm 1743, hoàn thành phần vòm năm 1753, thánh hiến ngày 23 tháng 4 năm 1784 và hoàn tất mặt tiền năm 1790; nâng lên hàng Tiểu Vương cung thánh đường năm 1948Basilica of San Francisco, La PazBasilica Menor de San Francisco, San Francisco Church La Paz, Convento y Templo de San Francisco de La Paz, Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in La Paz

Rising above the central plaza of La Paz at 3,640 meters in the Bolivian Andes, the Basilica of San Francisco (founded on August 2, 1549 by Friar Francisco de los Angeles Morales and rebuilt in volcanic stone between 1743 and 1784) stands as the supreme masterpiece of Andean Mestizo Baroque architecture. Its sumptuously carved stone portal blends Catholic Franciscan iconography with indigenous Aymara cosmology, tropical birds, papayas, pomegranates, and sacred nature motifs.

National Monument of Bolivia, Roman Catholic Minor Basilica (1948), and Masterpiece of Andean Mestizo Baroque ArchitecturePlaza Mayor de San Francisco, Avenida Mariscal Santa Cruz and Calle Sagarnaga, Central La Paz, La Paz Department, Plurinational State of Bolivia

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Photo: EEJCC, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ancestor Veneration · Ingavi Province, La Paz Department · Hình thành từ giai đoạn Tiwanaku III và IV vào khoảng thế kỷ thứ 2 trước Công nguyên tới thế kỷ thứ 6 và cực thịnh tới khoảng năm 1000 sau Công nguyên trên cao nguyên Altiplano ở độ cao 3.845 métKalasasaya Temple at TiwanakuTemplo de Kalasasaya, Kala Sasaya, Qala Sayasaya, Gateway of the Sun Puerta del Sol Tiwanaku, Tiwanaku Archaeological Complex (Tiahuanaco)

Rising on the high Altiplano at 3,845 meters near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, the Kalasasaya Temple at Tiwanaku (c. 200 BCE to 1000 CE, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000) was the supreme cosmological, astronomical, and ancestral ceremonial center of the pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilization. Measuring 128.6 by 119.0 meters, the monolithic platform enclosure houses the famous Gateway of the Sun (Puerta del Sol) carved with the Staff God Viracocha alongside the monumental Ponce and El Fraile monoliths.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (2000, Ref. 567rev) and Supreme Sacred Precinct of the Pre-Inca Tiwanaku CivilizationTiwanaku Archaeological Site, Tiwanaku Municipality, Ingavi Province, La Paz Department, Plurinational State of Bolivia

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Photo: Tiwanaku, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Nuflo de Chavez, Velasco, and Chiquitos Provinces, Santa Cruz Department · Thành lập từ năm 1691 tới năm 1760 bởi các tu sĩ Dòng Tên (như Cha José de Arce và kiến trúc sư kiêm nhạc sĩ người Thụy Sĩ Martin Schmid) cùng cộng đồng bản địa Chiquitano; các nhà thờ gỗ cột chạm và đá vôi hiện còn xây dựng từ năm 1745 tới 1755; trùng tu tổng thể từ năm 1972 bởi kiến trúc sư Hans RothJesuit Missions of the ChiquitosMisiones Jesuiticas de Chiquitos, Six Jesuit Mission Towns of the Chiquitania (San Javier, Concepcion, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Jose de Chiquitos)

Spread across the dry tropical forests and savannas of the Chiquitania in Santa Cruz Department, eastern Bolivia, the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos (founded between 1691 and 1760, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990) comprise the only six Jesuit mission towns in South America that survived intact as living communities: San Francisco Javier, Concepcion, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, and San Jose de Chiquitos. The ensemble is celebrated for its carved cuchi ironwood columns, shimmering mica-flecked murals designed by Swiss Jesuit Father Martin Schmid, and a treasure trove of over 5,500 pages of eighteenth-century Baroque musical manuscripts.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1990, Ref. 529) and the Only Intact Living Jesuit Mission Towns in South AmericaChiquitania Region (San Francisco Javier, Concepcion, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, and San Jose de Chiquitos), Santa Cruz Department, Plurinational State of Bolivia

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Photo: Maria Cristina Tajima, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Oropeza Province (Constitutional Capital Sucre), Chuquisaca Department · Thành lập Giáo phận La Plata (Charcas) ngày 27 tháng 6 năm 1552; khởi dựng nhà thờ chính tòa năm 1559 theo đồ án của Juan Miguel de Veramendi và hoàn thiện kéo dài tới năm 1712 (nâng lên Tổng giáo phận năm 1609); sắc phong Tiểu Vương cung thánh đường năm 1925Metropolitan Cathedral of SucreCatedral Basilica Metropolitana de Sucre, Catedral Primada de Bolivia, Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe of La Plata (Charcas), Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre

Presiding over the southern side of historic Plaza 25 de Mayo in the White City of Sucre (Bolivia's constitutional capital, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre (built between 1559 and 1712) is the Primatial Cathedral and oldest episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia. Combining Renaissance-Gothic ribbed hall vaults with Mestizo Baroque stone portals, the cathedral is celebrated throughout the Americas for its adjacent Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mamita Gualala), enshrining Fray Diego de Ocana's 1601 painting encrusted in solid Potosi silver, gold, and tens of thousands of pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.

Centerpiece of the Historic City of Sucre (UNESCO World Heritage Site 1991, Ref. 566), Primatial Cathedral of Bolivia (Catedral Primada), and Minor Basilica (1925)Plaza 25 de Mayo, Historic Center of Sucre, Oropeza Province, Chuquisaca Department, Plurinational State of Bolivia

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Photo: Massiel Z C, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

IIHelp Us Build This

This library is open and free, and it records its own progress in public. Three things you can help with today:

Name a place we missedA founding temple, a church, a mosque, a shrine the table above does not have. Send the name, the province, and one line on why it belongs.
Send a photograph with an open licenceNothing is published without both the photographer and the licence. Your own photograph with your permission, or an openly licensed one, are both welcome.
Report an errorA wrong date, a wrong original name, a wrong lineage, a wrong address. A library that is wrong once is not trusted again, so corrections are very welcome.

Write to thayungkhiem@gmail.com

IIILog

24/10/2026Completed three major initiatives on the same day: (1) Verified primary international sources and published the remaining 199 full English editions across 192 countries and territories, officially completing Stage D with 100% bilingual Vietnamese and English coverage across the entire library. (2) Visually verified and published 35 openly licensed Wikimedia Commons photographs for 22 sites in Vietnam and 13 international sanctuaries. (3) Authored 100 new bilingual sacred place monographs with real photographs for Stage C across 25 countries and territories (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Canada and Mexico), expanding each from 1 to 5 places and bringing the library to 761 sacred places.
29/09/2026Officially opened the doors of Hall of Myriad Paths to readers worldwide as a living spiritual library that grows every day. On the same day, authored 60 new Stage A sacred place monographs across 60 countries in the Nordic and Baltic regions, the Balkans, the Gulf, Central Asia, European microstates, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean (including Roskilde Cathedral, Hallgrímskirkja, the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Ostrog Monastery, Malé Friday Mosque, Sulayman-Too, Old Orhei, the Temple in the Sea and Ambohimanga), while verifying and publishing 59 openly licensed photographs for the second and third batches.

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?Quick Questions

Why are there no opening hours or ticket prices

Because they change constantly. A library that is wrong once about a practical detail loses its standing on everything else. Check with the place itself before you travel.

Where do the images come from

From Wikimedia Commons under open licences, each credited to its photographer, or photographed by UK MASTER ACADEMY. No image is published without both its author and its licence.

How were these places chosen

Four tests: it is officially listed as a heritage site, it belongs to a tradition this library covers, its site and orientation can be read in feng shui terms, and an openly licensed photograph exists.

Why is my country still grey

The library opens one country at a time, beginning with the countries that have the most readers, and within each country with its most significant places. A grey country is simply one whose turn has not come. Suggestions are welcome through the page of Master Ưng Khiêm.

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