According to abbreviationfinder, La Paz is a city in Bolivia, in a narrow, from Illimani towering over valley at the edge of the Altiplano against the Cordillera Real, with 3,625 meters above sea level one of the highest cities in the earth, (2012) 758 800 residents (especially Aimara, furthermore Quechua and Mestizo), agglomeration 2.1 million residents.
Seat of government and parliament as well as the department of La Paz; Archbishopric; several universities, conservatory, art college, scientific academies, cultural institutes (including the Goethe Institute), German school, libraries, National Museum of the Arts, Koka Museum, archaeological and other museums; most important industrial location in Bolivia, with textile and clothing, tobacco, paper, furniture, pharmaceutical, chemical, glass, metal goods industries; Tourism. Transport hub, connected by railway lines with Arica (since 1913) and Antofagast a (1892) in Chile and with Matarani in Peru; international airport in El Alto (4 100 m above sea level).
Cityscape
The Church of San Pedro (completed in 1790) was mainly built in the Renaissance style; the three-aisled church of San Agustín was begun in the 17th century, the facade is from the 20th century. The Church of San Francisco (begun in 1743, consecrated in 1784), a three-aisled basilica with a large dome and tower (1890-94), like the Church of San Domingo (2nd half of the 17th century), is a major work of the Indian Baroque style of that region (two-story Facades, richly decorated with ornaments; winding columns, clover leaf portals). In a baroque palace of the 18th century the Museo Nacional de Arte; in the Museo Nacional Tiahuanaco Collection of Art from Ancient America, in the Museum Casa de Murillo v. a. Colonial art. Cathedral (consecrated in 1925; double tower facade only incomplete); Palacio Legislativo (1900-05); Palacio Municipal (1925) by E. Villanueva, who also built the new building for the state university (1940-48), a modern campus with a combination of international style and motifs from pre-Hispanic architecture. The numerous high-rise buildings that have been built since the 1970s and 80s include the construction of the new Ministry of Transport by J. C. Calderón.
History
La Paz, on the site of an Inca village of 1,548 A. de Mendoza founded and originally Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de la Paz [θiu DAD se ɲ ɔ rapid] called, soon became a transportation hub at the silver and trade route from Potosí to Lima. After the victory of the troops S. Bolivar over the Spaniards at Ayacucho, the city was in 1825 in La Paz de Ayacucho [-aja kut ʃ o] renamed. La Paz has been the seat of government since 1898, while Sucre has remained the constitutional capital of Bolivia to this day.
Culture
Bolivia is the cradle of Andean culture. Long before the Inca, the highly developed Tiahuanaco (AD 400 to AD 1,000) had its center on the barren plateau on the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca. The people of Tiahuanaco built efficient irrigation and road systems, as well as elaborate temples and palaces. At its heyday, the city had a population of up to 45,000 and ruled over a huge empire in the Andean region.
Numerous churches have survived from the Spanish colonial period, often decorated with imaginative Indian motifs, for example in La Paz, Potosí and around Lake Titicaca. The once rich “silver city” of Sucre, whose old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is also home to important buildings. The monastery church of San Francisco (16th century), with its Renaissance portal and gilded wooden ceilings, and the church of La Merced (16th century), with a carved pulpit in Indian style ( Bolivian art, Latin American art ), are particularly worth mentioning.
During the wars of independence, Juan Wallparrimachi (* 1793, † 1814) appeared as the first poet known by name to write exclusively in the indigenous language of Quechua. The main representatives of the current Bolivian literature belongs R. Prada Oropeza . His socially critical prose reflects the slowly advancing modernization of the country. In the youngest generation of Bolivian authors, Edmundo Paz Soldán (* 1967) emerged as an author of novels and short stories.
In Bolivia, dance and music were traditionally used as a means of expressing resistance to oppression and exploitation during the colonial era. An example is the Morenada, a dance that recalls the lot of the Indian slave workers in the silver mines. The Andean city of Oruro is known for its carnival. Over 30,000 dancers and musicians in richly embroidered costumes take part in the ten-day festival every year.
Folkloric music in Bolivia is a mixture of Indian melodies and western styles. The music group Los Kjarkas is known everywhere.
Football is by far the most popular sport. With foreign athletes, however, games against the Bolivian national soccer team are not very popular because of the “thin air”: The national stadium of La Paz is located at 3,600 m above sea level. Running and racquetball, a kickback game similar to squash, are also widespread. Volleyball and basketball are also very popular in schools, especially among girls.
