Historical & Cultural Landmarks in South America

Humberstone and Santa Laura contain over 200 former saltpeter works where workers from Chile, Peru and Bolivia lived in company towns and forged a distinctive communal pampinos culture. That culture is manifest in their rich language, creativity, solidarity, and their pioneering struggle for social justice.

Between 1691 and 1760, a series of mission settlements was founded by the Society of Jesus in the Chiquitos territory of eastern Bolivia. Here on the semiarid frontier of Spanish South America, the Jesuits and the Chiquitano blended European architecture with local traditions.