| Bolivia 2007
Photos by Don and Lois Porter 2/6/2007 |
La Recoleta
The church and convent (founded 1600) of La Recoleta is up the slope leading to the two hills overlooking Sucre. The earliest settlement of Sucre was in this area. This convent museum consists of 3 cloisters plus the “patio de los naranjo” (orange tree patio). In the convent gardens there was a small forest of gigantic cedar trees which were cut down and used for the amazing choir. One majestic tree remains; its age is estimated at 1400 years. In the second half of the 17th century the baroque artist Juan Gimenez de Villareal carved the seats that appear in the choir of the church. The choir carvings honor the Franciscan missionaries and their Japanese converts who were executed in Nagasaki, Japan in 1597.
