Potosí

E24407

UNESCO World Heritage Site city

Potosí is a historic Bolivian city famed for its once immensely productive silver mines at Cerro Rico, which made it one of the richest and largest cities in the world during the Spanish colonial era.

Aliases (2)

Cerro Rico silver mountain ×1
Potosí silver boom ×1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	UNESCO World Heritage Site → city →
associatedWithLaborSystem	mita →
coinsProduced	Spanish colonial silver coins → pieces of eight →
country	Bolivia →
currentMainEconomicActivities	mining → tourism →
demography	predominantly indigenous and mestizo population →
economicBasis	minting of silver coins → silver extraction →
elevationAboveSeaLevel	about 13420 feet → about 4090 metres →
famousFor	Cerro Rico silver mountain → silver mining →
foundedBy	Spanish colonists →
foundingYear	1545 →
governedBy	Spanish Empire →
hadColonialInstitution	Royal Mint of Potosí →
hasArchitecturalStyle	Spanish colonial architecture →
hasClimate	cold high-altitude climate →
hasMountain	Cerro Rico →
hasNotableBuilding	Casa de la Moneda de Potosí → Cathedral of Potosí → San Lorenzo Church →
hasOfficialLanguage	Aymara → Quechua → Spanish →
hasStatus	capital of Potosí Department →
heritageCriteria	UNESCO cultural criteria (ii) → UNESCO cultural criteria (iv) →
heritageDesignation	UNESCO World Heritage Site →
historicalPeriodOfGreatestProsperity	Spanish colonial era →
laterPartOf	Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata →
locatedAtFootOf	Cerro Rico →
locatedIn	Altiplano → Potosí Department →
locatedInTimeZone	UTC−04:00 →
locatedOnContinent	South America →
notableFor	environmental degradation from mining → forced indigenous labor in mines →
partOf	Viceroyalty of Peru →
tourismAttractions	Casa de la Moneda museum → Cerro Rico mine tours → colonial center →
UNESCOWorldHeritageSiteSince	1987 →
wasOneOf	largest cities in the world in the 17th century → richest cities in the world in the 17th century →

Referenced by (7)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Bolivia →	contains
Potosí ("Cerro Rico silver mountain") →	famousFor
Viceroyalty of Peru →	importantCity
Upper Peru →	mainCity
Viceroyalty of Peru →	majorMine
Oruro →	roadConnection
Spanish colonization of the Americas ("Potosí silver boom") →	significantEvent