La Recoleta Monastery, Franciscan monastery in Sucre, Bolivia

La Recoleta is a Franciscan monastery founded in 1601 at the foot of Churuquella hill in Sucre. Its white church has a symmetrical facade with two square bell towers, each topped by a red-tiled cupola with a cross, and a triangular pediment above a projecting columned porch. Behind it, square cloister courtyards are lined by stone-column corridors and planted with roses and geraniums.

Franciscan monks founded the monastery in 1601 on Churuquella hill following a substantial land donation from Bishop Alonso Ramirez de Vergara in 1599. This early establishment made it one of the region's primary religious centers.

The monastery served as a religious community where Franciscan monks lived and worshipped for centuries, shaping its layout and daily rhythms. This spiritual purpose remains visible in the chapel spaces and the quiet, ordered arrangement of the grounds.

The monastery stands at the foot of Churuquella hill, at the city's edge, facing the broad plaza where Sucre was founded; the Peregrina fountain, made by Martín de Oviedo, now stands on that plaza. The entrance porch with columns and a statue above leads into square courtyards ringed by stone-column corridors.

East of the monastery stands a small plazuela with a chapel holding the Cruz Encarnada, a cross Francisco Solano placed in 1585. It marked the route out of the city toward the Chiriguano frontier, a landmark older than the monastery itself.