As a native of Puglia, I always thought that the only white town in the world was Ostuni; however, I had to change my mind. On the other side of the world, in South America, there is another one: Sucre, one of the most beautiful town of Bolivia.
In eternal competition with La Paz, Sucre is the center of judicial power while La Paz is the center of executive and legislative power. Also, from a tourist point of view, there is a special rivalry between the two cities. While La Paz was included in the list of the new 7 wonders of the world in 2014 for the category of cities, Sucre was designated a UNESCO heritage site in 1991. They are very different. La Paz is crowded, noisy, sometimes exhausting. Sucre is gracious, quiet and people-friendly.
The heart of the historic city is the large Plaza 25 de Mayo, with two very important buildings: the great Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Casa de la Libertad, which has been the seat of the Bolivian parliament for years, and now it hosts the National Museum.
In the same area you can also admire one of the most important cultural institutions of Sucre and of all Bolivia, the National Library. Then take a stroll through the city’s most beautiful public park, Parque Bolivar, located near the headquarters of the Bolivian Supreme Court and relax next to the magnificent tree-lined avenues and the large fountains. A very interesting place you also need to visit is the neoclassical cloister of San Felipe de Neri, now used as a female parochial school.
There are, of course, other monasteries and palaces such as the Recoleta Monastery or the cloister of Santa Clara that is worth visiting, but what we suggest is to get lost among the white alleys of the town and feel the atmosphere.
We also recommend a visit to the central market, where you will be captured by the mountains of fresh fruit and the tasty smoothies that will be prepared on the spot. Our only advice: prefer peeled fruits, for hygienic reasons. We got excited but then we had some problems…
