History of La Paz
La Paz was founded in 1548 by Spanish settlers at the site of the Native American village Laja. Its original name was Nuestra Señora de La Paz, meaning Our Lady of Peace, to celebrate the end of a civil war in Peru between Gonzalo Pizarro and Blasco Núñez Vela.
The city was moved to the valley of Chuquiago Marka. The Spanish king Charles V had given control of the former Inca lands to Pedro de la Gasca, who ordered Alonso de Mendoza to start a new city to mark the end of the civil wars in Peru. La Paz was founded on October 20, 1548.
In 1549, Juan Gutierrez Paniagua designed an urban plan with spaces for public areas, plazas, official buildings, and a cathedral. The plaza called Plaza de los Españoles, today Plaza Murillo, was chosen for government buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Spain ruled La Paz, with the king having the final say in political matters.
In 1781, Aymara people led by Tupac Katari besieged La Paz for about six months, destroying churches and government property. About thirty years later, Indians laid a two-month siege on La Paz, a time tied to the legend of Ekeko.
In 1809, independence movements brought uprisings against the Spanish. On July 16, 1809, Pedro Domingo Murillo spoke of a Bolivian revolution, and he was hanged that night at Plaza de los Españoles. The plaza would be remembered as a symbol of revolution.
In 1825, after the Ayacucho victory in the fight for independence, the city’s name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho, meaning The Peace of Ayacucho.
In 1898 La Paz became the de facto seat of the national government, while Sucre remained the official capital for history and the judiciary. This shift happened as Bolivia moved its economy from silver mining around Potosí to tin mining near Oruro, changing the balance of power among the country’s elites.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:33 (CET).