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Potosi was the second biggest city of the world in the 17th century because of the Cerro Rico, the silver mountain.
The wealth of this city comes from fantastic silver veins discovered on the begging of the 14th century. All this ore created a 160 000 inhabitant city on the early 17th bigger than Paris but smaller than Napopli. This fantastic affluence must not hide the 8 millions Indians sacrificed in the extraction of the mountain's richness (50 000 victims / year).
Nowadays, life in this 4100m (13400-ft.) height city is quite difficult, silver-rich veins have been worked-out for a long-time. Miners are working in appalling conditions, where working conditions have not been changed for 200 years.
The town, world heritage by the UNESCO since 1987, looking at the Cerro Rico (4920m, 16140-ft.)
Panoramic of Potosi taken on the top of the Cerro Rico.
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Ce/tte création est mis/e à disposition sous un contrat Creative Commons.