The
Castillo of the Glorieta— the heart of an Andean Fantasy Land
A
Dstant Valley
This
is the a story from a distant valley in the Bolivian Andes mountains. Paris and
London were 'home' to the social nobility who lived there and it is hard to imagine
the isolation of the place at the turn of the 19th century.
Back
in those days most of the world looked to Bolivia for her wealth. The country
had a long mining history traced to long before the Inkas. Few people in Europe
knew of the way the Bolivians led their lives. Few really cared. As long as silver
gold and tin flowed from the rich veins of the mountains, Bolivia ' promised the
earth'.
Silver In those days the capital of the
country was Sucre, a city founded by Spaniards in 1540 under the name of Villa
de La Plata - or the 'Town of The Silver'.
Rebellion
Sucre is still the capital although the seat of government moved to La Paz in
1899 after a series of rebellions. Sucre has remained cut-off from the world almost
ever since. There
was a brief period when a rail connection linked it to La Paz but that has gone.
In the days when this story began the only way to travel was by horse or for short
distances by carriage. Mules hauled wagons carrying ore and supplies between the
mines, Sucre, and the nearest port on the Pacific coast 480kms away.
The
Silver Mine
Perhaps the most famous of the 19th century mines was at Huanchaca near
Pulacayo, a cold even more remote township set at an altitude of over 4,000m. Pulacayo
is slightly northeast from Uyuni, today best known for its huge salt pans.
In 1890 the Huanchaca mine was owned by a group known as the 'Compañia
Huanchaca de Bolivia' . The Huanchaca mine was rich - very rich and
it made a lot of money. Also it attracted substantial investment from Europe,
largely from Great Britain and France. The major shareholders included the President,
a number of Chileans and some wealthy Sucre luminaries including Don
Francisco Argandoña who owned a private bank.
Don
Francisco
was married to Clotilde Urioste Velasco a young woman from Sucre, whose
family had arrived from Spain at the beginning of the 19th century.
Together
they were a central part of Sucre society, and devoted some of their wealth to
the foundation of a religious
house for the 'Daughters of Santa Ana'. It
became known as the 'Santa Clotilde Home'. By the 1890s everything was rolling
along well for the Francisco and Clotilde. Francisco had been awarded several
'diplomatic' titles including 'Minister Plenipotentiary in Germany',
-"remember just how far away that was - at least a week to the
port and six or seven weeks more to Europe by boat via Cape Horn.The Panama canal
didn't exist."
More
Amazing Titles
Sometime between 1895 and 1899 Francisco was accorded the further title of 'Special
Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary in France'. Francisco and Clotilde
had a Parisian home near the Arc de Triomphe in Avenida Victor Hugo. By 1898 Francisco
and Clotilde were enjoying the fruits of their diplomatic excursion in Europe.
They were en route to Russia via the Vatican when they called on the Pope.
His
Holiness Pope LeonXlIl bestowed on the pair another title , 'Princes
of the Glorieta'. They continued to St Petersburg where they were entertained
by the Russian Court of the day. The list of engagements, social meetings and
honours continued or so the stories were told. Bolivia, Russia and the Vatican
were months of travel apart.
Back
in Sucre
Work had been started on a country palace in 1893. Francisco Argandona employed
an Argentinian/ Italian architect to design and carry through the construction
of a sumptuous house about 5ms from the centre of the capital. No expense was
spared and the palace or Castle 'Castillo' as it was known was not
only the pride of the family but admired by all the local social nobility.
By 1897 the work
was complete. The
Castillo de la Glorieta was set among trees in extensive grounds. A gateway
announced the 'Villa Francisco Argandoña'
and a fine path led beside the river, past stables, a clock tower and minaret,
to gardens, an artificial lake 'the lover's lake' a miniature railway,
fountains, a grotto and the Glorieta, a flower clad bower, the 'Temple to
Venus' was set on a low hill.
An
Extravaganza Wonderland
The entire scene was a fairytale folly. Much of the design was Moorish,
parts were Italian. Mouldings, fine mirrors, furniture and statuary were imported
from Europe. Alice, Charles Dodgson's famous young heroine, could have found the
same scene in Wonderland
The
Party was over
The
Prince and Princess of the Glorieta were just as much at home in Europe as they
were in Sucre. Friends included Heads of State and wealthy investors. Parties
at the Castillo, where the boating lake was a favorite picnic spot, lasted for
days. But when Francisco died in 1910 after a short illness Clotilde decided to
spend time in Paris.
Clotilde
merged the Argandona bank with the Bolivian National Bank and opened factories
in Sucre - one making felt hats. War between Paraguay and Bolivia broke out in
1932. The family supported the Government but Clotilde died in 1933.
The
Castillo was maintained by younger members of the family for many years but in
1965 the Government of Rene Barrientos purchased the Castillo and land compulsorily
to estabilish a Military School - 'Teniente Edmundo Andrade'.
In 1987 the site was classed as a National Monument.
By
1998 the Palacio had been returned to the Urioste family. But it had been unattended
for years. The Army's occupation did little to help and though the decaying fabric
was almost untouched, the contents had long since been dispersed.
Modest funds have been put to urgent roof repairs and recently local historians
and other enthusiasts have begun to raise money for a complete restoration. The Castillo is
open to visitors
Fernando
Linale Urioste and his mother on the steps of the Castillo in 1998
Tony
Morrison writes [2014 - I recall passing the Castillo on several occasions
with Marion in the 1960s but photography was not permitted anywhere near the building.
Then in 1998 when working on a personal project of black and white photographs
of some of the most unusual places in Bolivia, I was put in touch with Fernando
Linale Urioste.
Fernando took me and his 83 year old mother Carmen Leonor Urioste Urioste to the
Castillo. Carmen
Leonor who was born in Sucre in 1915 was a grand-daughter Clotilde's brother and
could remember her childhood visits. The rooms were eerily empty as the furniture
and paintings had been moved as part of the Barrientos agreement.
But Fernando had one heavy and gilded chair he managed to carry in his station
wagon. His mother kindly posed in the centre of an empty room with a magnificently
ornate ceiling. We talked of the parties and the folly of a garden with bowers
and the boating pool - by then completely dry. The party was over....... Doña
Carmen Leonor Urioste Urioste died in Sucre in 2002.
Nonesuch
Expeditions would like to thank The Municipality of Sucre, The Rector and Council
of the University, San Francisco Xavier and Lic. Fernando Linale Urioste
References
El Principado de 'La Glorieta' Coronel DEM Mario Quiroga Morales - Sucre
1997
In Memoriam Clotilde v de Argandona , Princesa de la Glorieta, Sucre 1935
There
was a brief period when a rail connection linked it to La Paz but that has gone.
In the days when this story began the only way to travel was by horse or for short
distances by carriage. Mules hauled wagons carrying ore and supplies between the
mines, Sucre, and the nearest port on the Pacific coast 480kms away.
Pulacayo
is slightly northeast from Uyuni, today best known for its huge salt pans.
In 1890 the Huanchaca mine was owned by a group known as the 'Compañia
Huanchaca de Bolivia' . The Huanchaca mine was rich - very rich and
it made a lot of money. Also it attracted substantial investment from Europe,
largely from Great Britain and France. The major shareholders included the President,
a number of Chileans and some wealthy Sucre luminaries including Don
Francisco Argandoña who owned a private bank. 
Don
Francisco
was married to Clotilde Urioste Velasco a young woman from Sucre, whose
family had arrived from Spain at the beginning of the 19th century. 
religious
house for the 'Daughters of Santa Ana'. It
became known as the 'Santa Clotilde Home'. By the 1890s everything was rolling
along well for the Francisco and Clotilde. Francisco had been awarded several
'diplomatic' titles including 'Minister Plenipotentiary in Germany', 
His
Holiness Pope Leon XlIl bestowed on the pair another title , 'Princes
of the Glorieta'. They continued to St Petersburg where they were entertained
by the Russian Court of the day. The list of engagements, social meetings and
honours continued or so the stories were told. Bolivia, Russia and the Vatican
were months of travel apart.
The
Castillo de la Glorieta was set among trees in extensive grounds. A gateway
announced the 'Villa Francisco Argandoña'
and a fine path led beside the river, past stables, a clock tower and minaret,
to gardens, an artificial lake 'the lover's lake' a miniature railway,
fountains, a grotto and the Glorieta, a flower clad bower, the 'Temple to
Venus' was set on a low hill. 
