Bolivia - Cochabamba: Let your light so shine

While we were in Bolivia, we were able to go to the temple in Cochabamba. (It was a close call, as we arrived on Friday afternoon and the temple closed for maintenance the next night). The temple sits on the side of hill.  It is truly a beautiful setting for the temple. At night, the temple lights create dueling points of light with the lights from the Christ statue (below), which is on a hillside across from the temple.

This is the Cristo de la Concordia (Christ of Peace) on a hill to the east of Cochabamba, Bolivia. It is accessible by cable car, or by climbing 2,000 steps. We went by cable car. The statue is 112 feet tall and is modeled after the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.  Construction was started in 1987 and completed in 1994. Incidentally, the temple was announced a few months later in 1995 and was completed in 2000.

View of Cochabamba from the Christ statue.

Another view from the Christ statue, with Evie and these striking trees with purple blossoms.

At the base of the statue is this sculpture of a bible open to John 14: 6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” and John 15:12, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

Simon Patino was a small-time, struggling silver miner in Potosi.  He was not doing all that well, because silver prices were down.  But his claim also had tin and a very clever Simon switched to tin mining just as that metal boomed. By the early 1900s, tin baron Simon Patino was among the five most wealthy men in the world. He and his wife and family moved to Europe, but Simon, wanting to retire in the tranquil countryside outside Cochabama, commissioned a French architect to build a nice house there. The European-style palace, known as the Palacio Portales, was completed in 1927.  It was constructed with some of the finest imported materials available at the time – Carrara marble, French wood, Italian tapestries and delicate silks. The gardens and exterior were inspired by the palace at Versailles, the games room is an imitation of Granada’s Alhambra and the main hall takes its design inspiration from Vatican City.

We took the tour. It's an impressive place. The mansion could be the setting for a classic romantic or crime movie set in a mansion with a ball room dance floor, a balcony above, and a veranda just out the doors, in addition to all the ornate bedrooms, parlors and hidden doors and passage ways.

However, when the palace was completed, Patino's family was comfortably living in Europe, and he was still busy traveling between New York, Europe and Argentina. No one ever moved in. It was completed and then shuttered for about 50 years. While a few quests have stayed overnight, no one has ever lived there.

Eventually, long after Patino had died in 1947, the family decided to turn the house into an art and cultural complex and teaching center. When we were there, the palace was hosting a Latin America design exhibition in the basement. It was interesting and varied, including this dress design.

The gardens were beautiful and very European, but this, of course, was our favorite. (To be clear, the Saint Bernard is saving the girl in accordance with legend, not celebrating a kill).