Bolivia's Jesuit Missions
Russell Chamberlin looks at the renaissance of Bolivia's Jesuit mission
Until quite recently, the tropical lowlands that stretch to Brazil, in Bolivia's eastern region, were neglected to an extent remarkable even for what is commonly described as the poorest country in South America. Government and tourist interests alike were directed towards the Andes and the great cities and ruins that cling so improbably to the high places: Sucre, the official and cultural capital with its superbly preserved colonial architecture; Potosi, probably the world's richest city during the Spanish period, gorged on the silver mined from the Cerro Rico; La Paz, bursting at the seams so that a 'suburb' a million strong now clings to its outskirts, and pre-dating these urban centres the pre- Inca ruins of Tiahuanaco and Samaipata.
Descend the mountains and travel eastward and the picture changes. A road map of Bolivia published as late as 1972, shows a quite detailed road pattern for the Andes; but eastward – nothing. Roads starting out from the city of Santa Cruz peter out or circle back. On a visit in 1964, Harold Osborne of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, noting the total absence of roads and disappearance of canals and causeways, commented:
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