At the foot of Cerro Rico, which dominated the world with silver extracted from its mines more than four centuries ago. The city developed as one of the world’s main industrial centers until the mines were depleted and Potosí’s population decreased from nearly a million to just over 100,000 inhabitants.

The Mint House, from where the silver was sent to Spain, the San Lorenzo church, and many other colonial-era buildings survive to this day.

Today, tourists can explore the mines that have not been touched since Potosí’s glory days and still retain the original atmosphere of that era.