IN STEREO

Many are confused – they think that St Martín of Porres [patron saint of mixed-race people] is the name of the church. But it is St Martín of Tours, patron saint of France. In 1592, the church was dedicated to the Spanish. Later, this church was destined for the natives, the forced labourers. The location of the church, Hoyos Street, is in honour of Casimiro Gonzales de Hoyos – he was a warrior of [Bolivia’s] independence. And this is Almagro Street, formerly called ‘street of the Lupakas’, because they used to pass by here. The Lupakas used to be in great power. They belonged to the great nation of the Qaraqara. They were from Chucuito, near Peru. The Spaniards recruited [people] from that place to come work at the mine. There was a cemetery in the atrium. The natives were buried here in mass graves, and the priests and the Spaniards were buried inside the church.

The church itself has the form of the Latin cross. The ‘wings’ of the cross are called the transept. The altar was on the other side. And in the nave, that's where the people were. This divided the sacredness from the people. They could not approach this place. That is why it had the form of the cross. In the nave are the collections. Underneath the canvases are the medallions and tarjas, the same throughout the nave. Tarjas are similar to medallions, but wood on wood – it’s all wood. These medallions and tarjas served so that the Indian could be entertained. At that time, they could not read, could not write, but they could see. So it was a way to catechise. These pictures served that purpose. – Shirley