Qualla: Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz: Introduction

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Carwil Bjork-James from Brooklyn, New York, CC BY-SA 2.0. Soldiers in crimson tunics still stand guard inside this cathedral. They are members of Bolivia's Colorados Regiment, and they watch over the tomb of Marshal Andres de Santa Cruz, the man who briefly fused Peru and Bolivia into a single nation. The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, rising from Murillo Square in the heart of La Paz, is not just the seat of the city's Catholic archdiocese -- it is a monument to Bolivian nationhood itself, inaugurated in 1925 to mark the first centenary of the republic's founding.

Image: Carwil Bjork-James from Brooklyn, New York | CC BY-SA 2.0

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz: Seventy Years, Then Demolished

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Olga Lidia Paredes Alcoreza, CC BY-SA 3.0. The first cathedral of La Paz was completed in 1692 after seventy years of construction. Built from stone, lime, and brick, it stood for over a century before structural failure made it untenable. By 1831, the collapse of its presbytery and spreading cracks throughout the buildin...

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

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz: A Cathedral for the Centennial

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rocio Baldiviezo Infante, CC BY-SA 4.0. The timing of the inauguration was deliberate. When the new cathedral opened in 1925, Bolivia was celebrating one hundred years of independence, and the building became a symbol of national endurance. Yet even this milestone was provisional -- the interior ornamentation continued...

Image: Rocio Baldiviezo Infante | CC BY-SA 4.0

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz: The Marshal's Rest

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit EEJCC, CC0. In a chapel on the left side of the cathedral lie the remains of Andres de Santa Cruz, one of the most consequential figures in South American history. A Bolivian of mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage, Santa Cruz served as president of Bolivia and later as Supreme Protector of...

Image: EEJCC | CC0

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, La Paz: Towers for a Pope

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Franz Ballesteros Saravia, CC BY-SA 3.0. For over 150 years, the cathedral stood without its two lateral towers. Their completion came in 1989, timed to coincide with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Bolivia. The towers gave the building its final silhouette against the La Paz skyline, framing Murillo Square -- the sam...

Image: Franz Ballesteros Saravia | CC BY-SA 3.0