Things To Do in Cochabamba

You can also visit the Capilla Cristo de las Lágrimas de San Pedro, a chapel where there is a sculpture of Christ that allegedly cries tears of human blood every Good Friday. There are pictures of what this particular sculpture looked like when it was new (much less blood). The chapel, on the corner of Belzu and Las Heroínas, is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday from 3 to 6pm.

The Casona Santiváñez, at 158 Calle Santiváñez, is also worth a stop if you're downtown. This old house, restored in 2001 by the municipality of Cochabamba, is now a cultural center. It's home to the Museo de Fotografía Antigua, which has some interesting old photographs of the city. There's also a room devoted to writers, the Museo de Escritores, with letters and photos from Latin American writers. The salons upstairs are worth a peek if they're open (official city functions are held here); they are grand with old colonial furniture. Admission is free and the center is open Monday through Friday from 9am to noon and 2:30 to 6pm.

Historic Churches & Plazas -- Cochabamba was founded in 1574. By walking around the city's plazas and visiting the historic churches, you can travel back in time and feel what it must have been like to live here hundreds of years ago. In Plaza San Sebastián, you can see one of the first houses ever built in Cochabamba. Nearby is the first railroad station built in Bolivia. Plaza 14 de Septiembre is the historic heart of Cochabamba. September 14 is known as Cochabamba Day, when Cochabamba formally became a city. The plaza dates from 1571, and it is most remarkable because it has preserved its colonial archways on all four sides (very few plazas in South America can boast that the buildings on all four sides are original). On this plaza, you can visit the cathedral, which was the first church of Cochabamba. It still has its original baroque facade, and there's a good collection of colonial art inside. Nearby on Ayacucho and Santiváñez is Santo Domingo, which is one of my favorite churches. It's very simple inside (unlike the cathedral), which gives it a majestic air. The wooden doors are from 1612.