MUSEO NACIONAL DE ETNOGRAFÍA Y FOLKLORE (MUSEF)

The museum is housed in the palace of the Marquises of Villaverde, built in 1720, and is accessed through a wooden porch leading to a hall that precedes the interior patio. Admire the portico and the majestic stone staircase that consists of a semicircular arch crowned by a richly carved coat of arms. It reads: "Esta espada quebrara mas mi fe no faltará." (This sword will break, but my faith will not fail.) The frieze of the arch and the pedestals are originally carved. The portico is framed by two Corinthian columns with an eagle in relief in the middle. Above them are two masks similar to those on the main façade of the San Francisco church.

The museum has several exhibition halls, one of which is an exciting display of 59 abracadabra masks from different regions of the country. A numismatic room displays coins from the colonial and republican eras. Another room honors the feathers and their importance in the clothing of the natives. You will also find textiles, ceramics, traditional costumes and other pre-Columbian artifacts from the Inca, Aymara and Quechua cultures. On the first floor there is an exhibition on the gastronomic heritage of the country. The informative texts are in Spanish, but you can ask to take the tour with a guide, in French or English. The museum store sells beautiful textiles from the Jalq'a and Tarabuco regions.