Sucre History, Bolivia

It is impossible to think of Sucre in Bolivia and not think of its rich history. Sucre was colonized by the Spanish and was first established as the Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo or the New Toledo’s Silver City in 1538. Since then, Sucre has changed names various times.

There are four major turning points in Sucre’s existence and each one of those turning points marks the change of its name. For example, the original indigenous name of Sucre was Charcas. The next name that it was given was Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo and this marked the transition of the indigenous people being taken over by the Spanish in the 1500s. Chuquisaca was the name that replaced Ciudad de Plata during the independence period which was a crucial period for Bolivia. Upon being named the capital city of Bolivia, the city was named Sucre in honor of a Bolivian Marshall during independence. This city was one of the main Spanish stations during the Spanish Colonization which is apparent in the city’s grid like structure. This city was preferred among the Spanish because of the warmer temperatures that it maintained rather than in La Paz and Potosi. Therefore, there was a lot of emphasis on churches and universities being built there and even castles like the Glorieta Castle.

One of the oldest universities is also in Sucre, the Universidad Real and Pontifíce de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca. Considering the closeness geographically to Potosi and the investment that the Spaniards put into Sucre, Sucre was the first capital of Bolivia. When it was officially named as the capital, the city’s name was changed to Sucre. However, after Potosi was robbed of all its greatness, the capital was moved to La Paz in 1898 despite the immense importance that Sucre held during independence. Bolivia was the first colony to protest independence in 1809 even though it was one of the last to actually achieve its independence in 1825.

Considering the conservation of the Spanish structures that were built during the colonization period, UNESCO named Sucre to be a World Heritage Site in 1991. With reason, there are a variety of public buildings such as houses, churches and other buildings from the 18th and 19th Century that are beautifully conserved that attract many visitors each year.

This is just a snip bit of what you will see when you have the chance to visit Sucre in Bolivia.

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