La Santisima Trinidad Bolivia or just “Trinidad” is the capital city of Beni, which is a department located on the northern part of Bolivia. The city was established by a Jesuit priest named Cipriano Barace in 1686 near the Mamore River. In 1769, the city was moved due to constant flooding, today the city is located in the province of Cercado, which is one of the 8 provinces in Beni. Trinidad is located in the Bolivian tropics, which is why it’s hot and humid for most of the year.
The country’s region is forested heavily and many of the large rivers, which are all tributaries of the Amazon River, run through Beni. Just like with most cities in Bolivia, this one was built around a central plaza with a large Catholic Cathedral as a centerpiece. Originally, it was a small Jesuit town but now, it is a very large city with almost 100,000 inhabitants. In 1923, their mission-style church was demolished and later rebuilt, many original religious paintings, statues and relics are still housed in the Cathedral that faces Trinidads main plaza.
Trinidad Bolivia
Photo of Trinidad Bolivia – Taken by Elemaki
Trinidad Bolivia is also known as “the city of motorcycles”, as this is their main form of transportation. Day and night, the roar of motorcycles can be heard everywhere, especially around the plaza. Plaze Mariscal Jose Ballvian is the plaza where the townsfolk and tourists hang out on weekends and at night, because of the many restaurants, stores, banks, local government, and internet café buildings that surround this plaza.
This plaza also has a beautiful fountain that features Bolivia’s pink river dolphins or “inia” that tourist around the world came to see, as well as the statues of the many indigenous tribes. You’ll also be happy to know that there is a large gazebo where people can rest for few moments to shade themselves from the boiling hot sun. Recently, the city came up with a new slogan: “Trinidad Verde” which means “Green Trinidad”, as Beni’s prefecture attempts to improve their tourism and create awareness in Trinidad, while educating both tourists and the local population about the importance of preserving wildlife and natural habitats. As mentioned above, the city is surrounded by lagoons, lakes, and large rivers. There are numerous interesting bout tours by the river and beautiful resorts and restaurants around the main lagoons of the city. This is also one of the first 5 towns established for the Jesuit mission and they are now part of Misiones tour which includes visits to San Ignacio de Moxos, San Pedro, Loreto, and San Javier to complete the five.
San Ignacio de Moxos and Trinidad both take part in the International Baroque Music Festival which takes place every 2 years in Bolivia. Trinidad Bolivia has a smaller plaza that can be seen 2 blocks away from their main plaza. There you can see a very large stone, which has the complete map of Beni, which appears to be standing on its own as it’s titled forward. But if you walk to the back of it, you will see many statues of little people that hold it up. If you read the slogan located under the map, it says that “the progress of Beni will always depend on it’s own people’s efforts”. Even though this city has for many years been almost forgotten by their government, they continued to progress because of their people’s individual and enterprising spirit.
