Basilica of San Francisco, La Paz
Andean and colonial builders (individual architects not recorded) · La Paz, Bolivia · 1772
La Paz's San Francisco Basilica brings a richly carved colonial façade into one of the city's principal public spaces. Its stone decoration combines Christian imagery with the contributions of Andean craft traditions, while the church and adjoining convent preserve a layered religious complex. The present architecture developed through eighteenth-century campaigns and later additions. An architectural visit benefits from comparing the concentrated relief of the entrance with the quieter organization of the interior and the broader activity of the surrounding square. Visiting: The basilica is a working church. The adjoining museum and roof visits have separate charges. Year follows the later end of the eighteenth-century construction campaign. The tower is a later addition.