Bolivia maintains two capital cities. Sucre serves as the constitutional capital, where the Supreme Court sits. La Paz functions as the administrative capital, housing the executive and legislative branches of government along with most foreign embassies. The constitutional arrangement dates to 1899, following the Federal Revolution when the seat of government moved from Sucre to La Paz while preserving Sucre's status as the nominal capital. This division reflects historical tensions between the silver-mining highlands centered on Sucre and the emerging commercial power of La Paz.
La Paz sits at approximately 3,640 meters above sea level in its central plaza, making it the highest administrative capital in the world. The city occupies a canyon carved by the Choqueyapu River, descending from the rim of the Altiplano. Adjacent El Alto, technically a separate municipality, sits at 4,150 meters on the plateau above and has grown into Bolivia's second-largest city with a population exceeding one million as of the 2012 census. La Paz proper contained approximately 764,000 residents in that same census, though the metropolitan area combining both cities exceeded 2.3 million. The topography creates distinct socioeconomic zones, with wealthier neighborhoods occupying the lower southern zones where oxygen concentration is higher and temperatures milder, while working-class areas climb the canyon walls toward El Alto.
Spanish conquistador Alonso de Mendoza founded the city on October 20, 1548, originally naming it Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace). The founding occurred in the Chuquiago Marka valley, a site previously inhabited by Aymara communities. The location provided a strategic position between the silver mines of Potosí and the Pacific coast, serving initially as a supply and rest point for colonial transport routes. The original settlement clustered around what is now Plaza Murillo, named for Pedro Domingo Murillo, who led an early independence uprising in 1809 that ended with his execution. The plaza remains the political center, bordered by the Palacio Quemado (presidential palace), the National Congress, and the cathedral.
The presidential palace acquired its nickname Palacio Quemado, meaning "burnt palace," after fires during uprisings in 1875 and 1946. The current neoclassical structure dates primarily from reconstruction in the early twentieth century. Plaza Murillo has witnessed most major political events in Bolivian history, including the hanging of President Gualberto Villarroel from a lamppost in 1946 during a popular revolt. The plaza's elevation at approximately 3,640 meters creates immediate physiological effects for visitors arriving from lower altitudes, including shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, and potential altitude sickness requiring acclimatization periods of several days.
The city's commercial heart extends along the Prado, formally named Avenida Mariscal Santa Cruz and Avenida 16 de Julio, running roughly north-south through the central canyon. This boulevard connects Plaza del Estudiante in the south to Plaza San Francisco in the north. Plaza San Francisco features the Basilica of San Francisco, a stone church begun in 1548 and completed in 1772, representing one of the oldest structures in the city. The church combines Spanish baroque elements with indigenous craftsmanship visible in the facade's carved stone details. The attached convent houses a museum displaying colonial religious art. The plaza itself serves as a gathering point and transit hub, surrounded by markets and commercial streets.
Calle Sagarnaga and adjacent streets climbing from Plaza San Francisco constitute the primary tourist commercial zone, lined with vendors selling alpaca textiles, musical instruments, coca leaf products, and tourist services. The Mercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market) operates along Calle Linares and surrounding streets, selling traditional Aymara ritual items including dried llama fetuses used as offerings to Pachamama, herbal remedies, and ceremonial objects. The market functions as a working supply center for traditional practices rather than primarily a tourist attraction, though it draws significant visitor traffic.
The Zona Sur comprises affluent southern neighborhoods including Calacoto, San Miguel, and La Florida, located 400 to 600 meters lower in elevation than the city center. These areas developed primarily after 1970 as the city's commercial elite moved to neighborhoods with milder temperatures, better oxygen levels, and modern infrastructure. The distance from Plaza Murillo to Calacoto spans approximately 8 kilometers, though the route descends continuously. These neighborhoods contain shopping centers, international restaurants, and residential towers contrasting sharply with the colonial center's architecture.
Jaén Street preserves colonial character with ten museums housed in eighteenth-century structures along a single block. The Museo Costumbrista Juan de Vargas displays dioramas depicting Bolivian historical scenes and social customs. The Museo del Litoral Boliviano documents Bolivia's 1879-1884 War of the Pacific against Chile, which resulted in Bolivia losing its coastal territory and becoming landlocked. The loss of coastal access remains a politically sensitive issue, with the sea access claim maintained as an official government position. Other museums on the street cover precious metals, musical instruments, and the independence leader Pedro Domingo Murillo's residence.
The Teleférico cable car system, inaugurated in phases beginning in 2014, connects La Paz with El Alto across the canyon rim. The system expanded to ten lines by 2019, totaling approximately 30 kilometers and serving as primary public transport rather than tourist infrastructure. The Red Line, the first constructed, runs 2.4 kilometers connecting the central station near the cemetery district to El Alto's 16 de Julio Avenue in approximately ten minutes. Daily ridership across all lines exceeds 300,000 passengers. The cabins climb and descend the canyon walls, providing transit over congested road routes that require switchback roads taking significantly longer. The system represents the world's highest and longest urban cable car network.
El Alto's Feria 16 de Julio operates every Thursday and Sunday, functioning as South America's largest open-air market with an estimated 50,000 vendors during peak days. The market sprawls across multiple city blocks along 16 de Julio Avenue and surrounding streets, selling everything from automotive parts to livestock to electronics to textiles. The scale makes navigation challenging, with distinct sections developing organically based on merchandise categories. The market reflects El Alto's commercial importance, transforming from a suburb into an economic hub with its predominantly Aymara population maintaining strong cultural identity and commercial networks extending across Bolivia.
Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), located approximately 10 kilometers from the city center in the Mallasa district, displays eroded clay formations creating a landscape of spires and craters. The formations resulted from erosion of mountains composed of clay and sandstone, with the process continuing visibly. The site covers several hectares accessible via marked trails, sitting at approximately 3,100 meters elevation. The area functions as a municipal protected zone rather than a national park.
The city's museums include the Museo Nacional de Arte, housed in a baroque palace built in 1775 for the Count of Arana, displaying colonial and contemporary Bolivian art across three floors. The building itself exemplifies colonial architecture with an interior courtyard and stone facade. The Museo de Etnografía y Folklore occupies the Palacio de los Marqueses de Villaverde, an eighteenth-century mansion, exhibiting textiles, ceramics, and featherwork from Bolivia's diverse ethnic groups. The museum's textile collection documents weaving techniques and symbolic patterns from Aymara, Quechua, and lowland indigenous communities, with examples dating back several centuries.
Modern architecture appears most prominently in the Zona Sur and in government buildings. The new Plurinational Electoral Organ building, completed in 2018, features a geometric facade and serves as administrative headquarters for election management. The building sits in the Sopocachi neighborhood, a middle-class area with early twentieth-century homes and apartment buildings housing universities, cafes, and small businesses. Sopocachi developed as the city expanded beyond the colonial core, with construction occurring primarily between 1920 and 1960.
The Choqueyapu River runs through the city center, mostly channeled underground in concrete culverts since the mid-twentieth century. During the rainy season from December through March, the river occasionally floods, causing damage to infrastructure built over and around it. Several tributary streams descending the canyon walls contribute to drainage challenges, particularly as informal settlements on steep slopes lack proper infrastructure. The 2002 flood caused approximately 70 deaths when intense rainfall overwhelmed drainage systems.