Qualla: Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz

Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz: Introduction

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tebot, CC BY-SA 3.0. A church buried by snow. That is the unlikely origin story of one of Bolivia's most striking colonial buildings. The first Church of San Francisco in La Paz took over thirty years to construct, finished in 1581 along the banks of the Choqueyapu River. Less than three decades later, between 1608 and 1612, a snowfall of extraordinary proportions brought its roof crashing down. What rose in its place, beginning in 1743, was something altogether different -- a building that married European ecclesiastical ambition with the carved stone vocabulary of the Andes.

Image: Tebot | CC BY-SA 3.0

Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz: From Riverbank to Plaza

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jduranboger, CC BY-SA 3.0. Fray Francisco de Morales founded the Convent of San Francisco in 1548, just thirteen years after La Paz itself was established. He chose a site along the Choqueyapu River, and construction of the first church began the following year. The location placed the Franciscan order at ...

Image: Jduranboger | CC BY-SA 3.0

Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz: Stone Lace at 3,600 Meters

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0. Construction of the present church began between 1743 and 1744, and the dome was completed by 1753. The building was consecrated on April 23, 1758, but the elaborate carved facade was not finished until 1790 -- nearly half a century after construction started. That facade is the ...

Image: Dan Lundberg | CC BY-SA 2.0

Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz: A Tower and a Title

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jduranboger, CC BY-SA 3.0. For over a century, the church stood without a bell tower. Construction of its single tower did not begin until 1885, giving the building its present asymmetric profile against the La Paz skyline. In 1948, the Vatican elevated the church to the status of minor basilica, recognizi...

Image: Jduranboger | CC BY-SA 3.0

Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz: Above the Canyon City

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Olga Lidia Paredes Alcoreza, CC BY-SA 3.0. La Paz sits in a deep canyon carved into the Altiplano at roughly 3,600 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest capital cities in the world. The basilica occupies a central position in this dramatic urban landscape, its stone facade catching the sharp, high-altitude ...

Image: Olga Lidia Paredes Alcoreza | CC BY-SA 3.0