Potosí was founded as a mining town in 1546, while Bolivia was still part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
This article examines the long history of Potosí, Bolivia, home of the world’s most productive silver mines. The At its peak in the early 17th century, 160,000 native Peruvians, slaves from Africa and Spanish settlers lived in Potosí to work the mines around the city: a population larger than London, Milan or Seville at the time. There’s a culture of death here,” The poverty and dilapidation of modern Potosí mask the story of a once-imperial city whose grand villas are now restaurants, hairdressers and dental surgeries. Anything over 6000 meters is difficult and climbing for 7 or 8 hours is tiring for anyone at high altitude. “For about 70 years now, a great quantity of ore has been mined … It is no great surprise that the good ores have been exhausted, and that all have diminished.”Everything is finished, all is affliction and anguish … This has been one of the greatest downfalls everFrom its boom-town peak at 160,000, the city’s population had fallen to 60,000 by the end of the 17th century. Small-scale female vendors dominated street markets and stalls, selling food, Potosí continues to be an important administrative center, mining town, tourist attraction, and population center in modern Bolivia.
Few places in the world were left untouched by its riches.US court says $500m of gold and silver coins recovered by US treasure-hunters from Atlantic in 2007 belongs to SpainWeather rather than pirates caused majority of sinkings, says culture ministry teamUN researchers find proof that wreck initially believed to have been explorer’s flagship is actually from later periodVessel and its cargo could also help clarify the importance of Cascais on the spice route Suppliers of food as well holders of urban and rural real estate prospered in Potosí. Potosí’s silver reached Seville, but also Rouen and Calais, Amsterdam and Macao.”Modern Potosí is a shell of its former self. Marshland was drained to open up more space for construction, dividing Potosí into a Spanish and a local district, and creating an intricate system of dykes and drains to fill five artificial lagoons that fed the mills – an extraordinary feat of hydro-engineering that guaranteed a steady supply of silver.The ore mined by the native workers and African slaves made many Spaniards exceedingly wealthy. Don’t believe how easy the guidebooks make this climb seem! All rights reserved. Cerro de Potosí's peak is 4,824 metres (15,827 ft) Located in the Bolivian Tin Belt, Cerro Rico de Potosí is the world's largest silver deposit and has been mined since the sixteenth century, producing up to 60,000 Founded in 1545 as a mining town, it soon produced fabulous wealth, and the population eventually exceeded 200,000 people. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. In the rush to exploit the silver, the first Spanish colonisers occupied the locals’ homes, forgoing the typical colonial urban grid and constructing makeshift accommodation that evolved into a chaotic mismatch of extravagant villas and modest huts, punctuated by gambling houses, theatres, workshops and churches.High in the dusty red mountains, the city was surrounded by 22 dams powering 140 mills that ground the silver ore before it was moulded into bars and sent to the first Spanish colonial mint in the Potosí was “the first city of capitalism, for it supplied the primary ingredient of capitalism – money”, The production of silver in the city exploded in the early 1570s after the discovery of a mercury amalgamation process to extract it from the mined ore, coupled with the imposition of a forced labour system known as the Temperature and humidity differences between the depths of the mine and the surface meant pneumonia and respiratory infections were rife, with one mining boss noting: “If 20 healthy Indians enter on Monday, half may emerge crippled on Saturday.”Potosí was the first city of capitalism, for it supplied the primary ingredient of capitalism – moneyAlongside the mita, Toledo’s other reforms were the first serious attempt to organise this boom city. Its northeast face is a maze of complex ridges and rugged cliffs.Though generally forgotten about by the climbing/hiking/exploring community, due to its close proximity to the beautiful and alluring peaks of Red Rock NC…
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