Noel Kempff Mercado National Park Bolivia

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park - Bolivia 

Short Report

The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon basin. With the altitudinal range of 200 m to almost 1000 m, this is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types from Cerrado region savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. The park has an evolutionary history dating back more than a billion years in the Precambrian period. An estimated 4,000 species of flora and more than 600 bird species and viable populations of many globally endangered vertebrate animals live in the park.

Wide Report

The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon basin. With an altitudinal range from 200 m to 1000 m, it contains a rich mosaic of habitat types from cerrado region savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. The park has an evolutionary history dating back more than a billion years in the Precambrian. Situated on the border of Brazil, the site contains a large part of the Huanchaca Plateau and surrounding lowlands. There are rugged cliffs in the north, west and south side of the plateau with several valleys and steep slopes in the eastern side. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau and spectacular waterfalls. The largest river in the area is the Iténez, marks the border with Brazil, to the north of the park and the river Paraguá dominates the lowlands in the west.

The north-eastern part of the Santa Cruz Department is part of a transition zone where Amazon intergrades with the dry forest and savannah habitats of the Cerrado region also appeared further realm. Habitat types of the region can be divided into five basic units that different ecosystems: upland evergreen forest; deciduous forests; upland Cerrado region savannah, savannah wetlands, forests and wetlands. The moist forests of the park are floristically distinct from the moist forests of western Amazon and the Andes region of piemonte. These forests are classified in different habitat types hardly studied. 

An evergreen forest with tall trees can be found on deep and well-drained soil, while a dwarf forest establishment located in a transition zone with the Cerrado region. A specific feature of the forest is the lianas, a low and very thick canopy. Although trees are also part of the canopy, the lianas teeming with so that they dominate. The Huanchaca Plateau has a rich Cerrado region flora and contains many species that have a distribution limited to central Brazil. The excellent habitat diversity of the park is favorable for the existence of a very diverse flora and the location is a major repository for many rare mammals of Bolivia. More than 80% of the mammals are found in moist forests. Good populations of tapir view wit hits, brocket deer and jaguar inhabit the upland moist forests. Long haired spider monkey has large population groups in the high evergreen forests, and black-tailed catfish silvery marmoset and monk are also present. The open grassland habitats in the southern part of the plateau are perhaps one of the largest populations of pampas deer. Two other large mammals, maned wolf and marsh deer are to be found in the seasonally flooded savannas live below the plateau.

Source:whc/unesco

Tiwanaku Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture Bolivia

Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture - Bolivia 

Short Report

The city Tiwanaku, the capital of a powerful pre-Hispanic empire dominated a large part of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its apogee between 500 and 900 AD. The monumental remains testify to the cultural and political significance of this civilization, which distinguishes it from other pre-Hispanic empires in North and South America.

Wide Report

The ruins of Tiwanaku bear striking witness to the strength of the empire that played a leading role in the development of the Andean pre-Hispanic civilization. The buildings are exceptional examples of the ceremonial and public architecture and art of one of the main manifestations of the civilisations of the region. Tiwanaku began as a small settlement, in what is known as the 'village period', approximately 1200 BCE. It is self-contained, with a non-irrigated agriculture based on frost-resistant crops, essential at this high altitude, tubers produce such as potatoes, oca and cereals, in particular quinoa. In more sheltered places near Lake Titicaca, corn and peaches were also cultivated. The inhabitants lived in rectangular adobe houses were connected to each other by cobbled streets.

During the 1st century CE, Tiwanaku expanded rapidly in a small town. This can be attributed to the introduction of copper metallurgy, the resulting availability of superior tools and equipment and the repair of irrigation systems. The rich upper class, which also controlled the lucrative trade in wool from the huge flocks of domesticated alpaca in the region, provided that the financing for the creation of large public buildings of stone and paved roads Tiwanaku pairing with other settlements in the region. The marshy tracts on the shore of the lake, where the climate would be more favorable in cultivation by the creation of a row up fields.

The Tiwanaku Empire is probably the most powerful phase in the 8th century AD. Many daughter cities or colonies were set up in the vast region in Tiwanaku rule, of which the most important was Wari in Peru, which is a competitor of Tiwanaku. The political dominance of Tiwanaku began to decline in the 11th century, and its empire collapsed in the first half of the 12th century. Tiwanaku is located near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca on the plateau, at an altitude of 3,850 m. Most of the old city, which was largely built of adobe, is combined with the modern city. However, the monumental stone buildings of the ceremonial center survive in the protected archaeological zones.

The most impressive monument of Tiwanaku as temple of the Akapana. It is a pyramid originally with seven aggregate platforms with stone retaining walls rises to a height of over 18 m. Only the lowest of these, and a part of one of the intermediate walls survive intact. Research has shown that the originally coated with blue stone and passed by a temple, as usual in Mesoamerican pyramids. It is surrounded by very well conserved irrigation/drainage canals. The walls of the small semi-underground temple (Templete) consists of 48 pillars in red sandstone. There are many carved stone heads in the wall, undoubtedly represent a previous practice reports highlight the severed heads of enemies in the temple.

North of the Akapana is the Kalasasaya, a large rectangular open temple, believed to have been used as an observatory. It is imported by a flight of seven steps in the center of the eastern wall. The interior contains two carved monolith and the monumental port on the sunday, one of the main models of the art of Tiwanaku. It was made from a single piece andesite cut a large portal with alcoves on both sides. Above the portal is a bas-relief depicting that frisian a central deity, standing on a stepped platform, carries a comprehensive dress, and with a team in each hand. The deity is flanked by rows of percentile anthropomorphic dummy birds and along the bottom of the panel is a series of human faces. The ensemble is interpreted as agricultural calendar.

Historical Data

Tiwanaku began as a small settlement, in what is known as the 'village period,' about 1200 BCE. It is self-contained, with a non-irrigated agriculture based on frost-resistant crops, essential at this high altitude, tubers produce such as potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), oca (Oxalis tuberosa) and cereals, in particular quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). In more sheltered places near Lake Titicaca, corn and peaches were also cultivated. The inhabitants lived in rectangular adobe houses were connected to each other by paved streets. During the 1st century CE Tiwanaku expanded rapidly in a small town. This can be attributed to the introduction of copper metallurgy and the resulting availability of superior tools and equipment. This facilitates the recovery of irrigation systems, which resulted in the agricultural surpluses, which in turn encouraged the growth of a hierarchical social structure and the emergence of specialized professionals.

The rich upper class, which also controlled the lucrative trade in wool from the huge flocks of domesticated alpaca in the region, provided that the financing for the creation of large public buildings in stone, designed by architects of a monumental scale and richly decorated by the skilled bricklayers. Paved roads were built, Tiwanaku pairing with other settlements in the region, together with the production was exported with llamas as beasts of burden. The distribution of artifacts in bronze, ceramics, textiles and stone from the workshops of the Tiwanaku craftsmen shows that around 550 the city was the capital of the vast empire for what is now southern Peru, northern Chile, Bolivia and parts of Argentina.

The marshy tracts on the shore of the lake, where the climate would be more favorable in cultivation by the creation of a row up fields. This was a huge undertaking, it is estimated that as many as 65km2. The camellones were 6m wide and can more than 200 m long and are separated by irrigation channels 3m wide. The canals served not only for water and nutrients in the fields but also acted as heat reservoirs during the day, allowing significant improvements in the microclimate of the fields. The Tiwanaku empire is probably the most powerful phase in the 8th century AD. Many daughter cities or colonies were set up in the vast region in Tiwanaku rule, of which the most important was Wari in Peru, which is a competitor of Tiwanaku. On its pinnacle Tiwanaku has estimated to be more than an area of up to 6km2 and housed between 70,000 and 125,000 inhabitants.

The political dominance of Tiwanaku began to decline in the 11th century, and its empire collapsed in the first half of the 12th century. The reasons for this failure are not yet clear. Scholars now reject invasion and conquest and point to the changes in the climate, which give rise to poor harvests and a gradual weakening of the central authority at the time when it yielded to the pressures for autonomy from its components.

Source:whc/unesco

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos Bolivia

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos - Bolivia 

Short Report

Between 1696 and 1760, six combinations of reducciones (settlements of Christianized Indians) inspired by the 'ideal cities' of the 16th-century philosophers were founded by the Jesuits in a style that married Catholic architecture with local traditions. The six remaining - San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Jose - a live heritage in the former territory of the Chiquitos.

Wide Report

Sent by the Spanish Crown to ensure the conquest of Indias del Cielo, the Jesuit Fathers arrived at the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1567 to Christianity to the indigenous communities. The first collegiate church was founded in 1577 in the, on Bolivian Foreign territory; in 1592 a new house is located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Jesuits seemed to have rationalised in the Chiquito territory, the model of reducciones (settlements of Christianized Indians) which was inspired by the ideal city of the humanist philosophers. Between 1696 and 1760, six groups reducciones founded in a style that married Catholic architecture with local traditions.

They defined the urban model: the houses of the Indians at regular intervals along the three sides of a rectangular square, with the fourth reserved for the church, the collegiate church, two workshops and schools, and sometimes also for the Casa de la Misericordia (some almshouse regularly spent), which housed widows and abandoned women. In contrast to other Jesuit Missions in South America abandoned after 1767, the World Heritage Site the reducciones survived the expulsion of the company of Jesus. The six remaining - San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Jose - a live heritage in the former territory of the Chiquitos.

The churches of the Chiquitos of Bolivia Missions are a remarkable example of the adaptation of the Christian religious architecture to local conditions and traditions. Long walls where three aisles separated by wooden columns and two outer galleries, also supported by columns, forms a very unique type of architecture, characterized by the special treatment of the wooden columns and railings. Only San Jose is an exception, because the stone construction was inspired by a Baroque model. This traditional architectural ensemble, which often drive excellent popular art, vulnerable, under the influence of changes that threatened population after the reform the World Heritage Site of 1953.

San Francisco Javier, the most western and the earliest, is now a small village whose traditional habitat stores some of the features of the domestic architecture of the Jesuits, although the height of 6.25 m for each property is rarely encountered. The school has survived, as well as the church, the work of Father Martin Schmidt. Concepción, founded in 1709, was not definitive until 1722. The church, which began in 1725, is also a work of Father Martin Schmidt. Santa Ana was founded in 1755 and the church was built between 1768 and 1831, after the expulsion of the Jesuits. San Miguel is founded in 1721. The church, the construction of which began in 1750 and was built according to the design of Father Johann Messner. San Raphael has taken from the Jesuit period only the church, built in 1750 by Father Schmidt. It is distinguished by a outside promenade gallery and a wooden bell tower. San Jose, established in 1698, is one of the most interesting reducciones of Chiquito. Four chapels for processions are on the corners of the square. The religious ensemble was thoroughly reworked in the 18th century.

Source:whc/unesco

Historic City of Sucre Bolivia

Historic City of Sucre - Bolivia 

Short Report

Sucre, the first capital of Bolivia, was founded by the Spanish in the first half of the 16th century. The many well-preserved 16th-century religious buildings, such as San Lázaro, San Francisco and Santo Domingo, illustrate the mix of local architectural traditions styles imported from Europe.

Wide Report

The rich heritage of the historic center of the Spanish city Sucre (also known as the city of four names - La Plata, Characas, Ciudad Blanca and Sucre) is an excellent, intact and well-preserved example of the architectural mixture reached in Latin America through the assimilation of local traditions and styles from Europe.

The city of La Plata was founded by Pedro Anzures, Marqués de Campo Rotondo, in 1538. The foundation is a result of the mining activities under the watchful eye of Gonzalo Pizarro, who is interested in exploring the highland east region the Andean Cordillera. In 1559, the Spanish king Felipe II commanded the foundation of the Audiencia the Characas, with headquarters in the city of La Plata, for the management of the eastern regions. The Audiencia which judicial authority and executive powers, and the regions of Paraguay, the south-east of Peru, northern Chile and Argentina, and the most of Bolivia. The Spanish city was designed on the basis of a simple urban program, as all cities founded by the Spanish in the regions of America in the 16th century. The mineral wealth of the nearby town of Potosí influenced by the economic development of La Plata, which was also a major cultural center (Universidad San Francisco, Royal Academia Carolina San Isabel Hungria Seminario), and the headquarters of the Characas Audiencia, a precursor of the current Supreme Court.

In 1609 the city was the seat of an archbishopric, and in the 17th century La Plata served as a legal, religious and cultural center of the Spanish eastern areas. The first call for the independence of the Americans took place in the city of La Plata in 1809. In August 1825 independence was declared and a new republic was born under the name of Bolivia. In the same days the name of the city, La Plata, was changed in Sucre in honor of Mariscal Sucre António José, who fought for independence from Spain. The buildings in the historic center of the city are characteristic 18th-century local architecture and are similar to those built in the same period in the. More recent buildings (late 18th and early 19th century) is still a patio, but they are tailored to the neoclassical style of metropolitan Spain. The House of the Freedom is considered to be the most important historical monument of the country, as it was here that the events that led to the independence of Bolivia has taken place. It was built in 1621 as part of the Monastery of the Jesuits.

On the other hand, many religious buildings still testify to the period that marked the beginning of the Spanish city, including the churches built by settlers from the 16th century, such as San Lázaro, San Francisco, Santo Domingo and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the construction of which began in 1559 and was not completed until 250 years later. The architecture shows Renaissance, Baroque and Mestizo pop would be described as pop. 'Baroque' functions. The church of Santa Barbara is the only church in renaissance style in Bolivia: the interior construction, neo-gothic style, dating back to 1887. All churches of Sucre illustrate the mix of local architectural traditions styles imported from Europe.

Source:whc/unesco

Fuerte de Samaipata Bolivia

Fuerte de Samaipata - Bolivia

Short Report

The archaeological site of city Samaipata Fuerte consists of two parts: the hill with many carvings, believed to have been the ceremonial center of the old town (14TH- 16th century), and the area south of the hill, which the administrative and residential area. The enormous sculpted rocks, dominates the downtown is a unique testimony of pre-Hispanic traditions and beliefs, and has no parallel anywhere in South America.

Wide Report

City Samaipata Fuerte still bears witness to the existence of a political culture in the Andean region with highly developed religious traditions, dramatically illustrated in the form of the dominant ceremonial function of this site, the giant rock sculptures. The site is known for its occupied and used as a ritual and residential center by people who belong to the Mojocoyas culture already in AD 300, and it was in this period that work began on the design of this great rock. It was inhabited in the 14th century by the Inca, whom a provincial capital. This is confirmed by the features that were discovered by digging - a large central square with monumental public buildings around it and construction of the neighboring hills for agriculture - which are characteristic for this type of Inca settlement. It was a bulwark against the incursions of the savage Chiriguanos in the Chaco region in the 1520s.

The strategic location of the site, which attracted by the Inca, was also recognized by the Spanish. The silver mines of Cerro Rico In The began in 1545 and the colonial settlement of city Samaipata Fuerte has become an important staging post on the highway of Asunción and Santa Cruz on the colonial centers in the High Andes such as La Plata (modern Sucre), Cochabamba and In The. With the introduction of the new city of city Samaipata Fuerte in the Valle de la Purificación the ancient settlement had no further military interest and was abandoned.

The archaeological site of city Samaipata Fuerte consists of two parts: the hill with many carvings, believed to have been the ceremonial center of the old town (14TH- 16th century), and the area south of the hill, which the administrative and residential area. The reddish brown sandstone hill is divided into a higher part, known as El Mirador, and a lower, where the reliefs are located. The sculpture in the western part are two cats on a circular base, the only examples of high-relief carving in the whole site. The remains of a stone wall of the Inca period across a number of reliefs, which indicates a pre-Inca date. These include two parallel channels, between and there are smaller channels cut in lozenges could give rise to the local name for this feature, El Dorso de la Serpiente.

At the highest point is Coro los Sacerdotes, which consists of a deep cut circle with triangular and rectangular niches in the wall. Further to the east is a structure which is undoubtedly the head of a cat. Most of the southern side of the rock was initially dominated by a series of at least five temples or shrines, of which only the niches in their walls survive. The Casa Colonial is located on an artificial plateau at the foot of the rock. Excavations have shown that proof of Inca and pre-Inca structures, and so is known as the Square of the Three Cultures. The house of the colonial period, only the lower stone walls that survival is in typical Arabic-Andalusian style, with a central courtyard.

Away from the rocky hill, there are a number of small isolated buildings surrounded by perimeter walls, a typical Inca form known as kancha. One of the two buildings and five other, arranged in a U-pattern. The main administrative and religious center of the Inca period is in a series of three artificial platforms south of the rock. The main feature is a huge building known as the Kallanka; it is on the lowest platform and faces the ceremonial part of the rock in a spacious plaza. West of the Kallanka and on the second platform is a group of at least twelve large or medium-sized properties, in H-shape, provisionally called Akllawasi. These are interpreted as remains of the textiles, woven for ritual purposes or exchange of the virgins of the sunday, whose name akllas is devoted to this group. On the third platform there is a group of seven Inca properties disposed around an open space on a man-made mound.

Historical Data

The site is known for its occupied and used as a ritual and residential center by people who belong to the Mojocoyas culture already in AD 300, and it was in this period that work began on the design of this great rock. According to the Spanish priest Diego the Alcaya, letter to the beginning of the 17th century it was inhabited in the 14th century by the Inca, whom a provincial capital. This is confirmed by the features that were discovered by digging - a large central square with monumental public buildings around it and construction of the neighboring hills for agriculture - which are characteristic for this type of Inca settlement. It was a bulwark against the incursions of the savage Chiriguanos in the Chaco region in the 1520s.

The strategic location of the site, which attracted by the Inca, was also recognized by the Spanish. It is uncertain when they moved to this region.  It was also important to build fortresses for use against the marauding Chiriguanos. What is certain is that the colonial settlement of city Samaipata Fuerte has become an important staging post on the highway of Asuncíon and Santa Cruz on the colonial centers in the High Andes such as La Plata (modern Sucre), Cochabamba and Potosí.

With the introduction of the new city of city Samaipata Fuerte in the Valle de la Purificación the ancient settlement had no further military interest and was abandoned. It was quickly covered with vegetation and only visited by treasure hunters and herdsmen directly. But the memory of El Fuerte (the Fort) was kept alive by the local population. He first came to the notice of scholars at the end of the 18th century and has been intensively studied since the beginning of this century.

Source:whc/unesco

City of Potosí Bolivia

City of Potosí - Bolivia

Short Report

In the 16th century this area was regarded as the world's largest industrial complex. The extraction of silver professions ore on a number of hydraulic mills. The site comprises the industrial monuments of the Cerro Rico, where water is supplied by a complex system of aqueducts and artificial lakes; the colonial city with the Casa de la Moneda, the Church of San Lorenzo; various patrician houses; and the barrios mitayos, the areas where the workers lived.

Wide Report

In the time before the Spanish conquest, In The was only a small hamlet situated at a height of 4000 m, in the icy solitude of the Andes. It owes its prosperity to the discovery, between 1542 and 1545, of the New the world's largest silver hope in the Cerro In The, in the mountains to the south of the city and overlooks the. As a result. In the is direct and tangible associated with an event of excellent universal interpretation: the economic changes brought about in the 16th century by the flood of Spanish currency as a result of the massive imports of precious metals from the New World in Seville.

The 'Imperial City' of Potosí, which he after the visit of Francisco de Toledo in 1572, exerted lasting influence on the development of the architecture and monumental art in the central region of the Andes by the distribution of the forms of a baroque style with Indian influences. Growth was very fast: in the new city, where building began under the conditions of the Law of the Indies in 1572, there were 160,000 settlers in the 17th century, as well as 13,500 Indians who were forced to work in the mines. After a period of poorly organised exploitation of the indigenous silver hope, the Cerro the reached full production capacity in the after 1580, when a Peruvian developed mining technique, known as terrace, was carried out. In the 16th century this area was regarded as the world's largest industrial complex in which the extraction of silver professions ore on a number of hydraulic mills.

In it is the only example par excellence of a huge silver mine in modern times. The city and the region retain spectacular traces of this activity: the industrial infrastructure consists of 22 lagunas or shells, from which a forced flow of water produce the hydraulic power to activate the 140 los ingenios or mills times silver ore. The ore was then merged with mercury in refractory furnaces or guayras huayras called grounding. Then was cast in bars and stamped with the mark of the Royal Mint. From the mine to the Royal Mint, the entire production chain is preserved, together with dams, aqueducts, milling centers and the ovens. The production remained until the 18th century, just slows down after independence in 1825.

The site comprises the industrial monuments of the Cerro Rico, where water is supplied by a complex system of aqueducts and artificial lakes; the colonial city with the Casa de la Moneda, the Church of San Lorenzo; various patrician houses; and the barrios mitayos, the areas where the workers lived. The Casa de la Moneda (House of the Mint), in the center of the city near the Square of the Republic, was built between 1753 and 1773. The house is now a numismatic museum. It has more than 100 colonial photos and various archaeological and ethnographic collections. The church of San Francisco was the first church built during the colonial period; the houses the patron of Potosí, El Senor de la Vera Cruz. The church of San Lorenzo was built in 1548; this is an excellent example of dressed stone in the local Baroque style.

Source:whc/unesco