The Casa de los Marqueses de Otavi is one of the few aristocratic colonial townhouses in Sucre to retain something of its original splendour. Built in the early 18th century for one of Upper Peru's silver-rich Spanish title-holders, the building has a wide stone portal carved with the family crest, a vast central patio with stone columns, and the original wooden balconies on the upper floor. It now houses the local branch of a national bank, and the ground floor and patio can be visited during banking hours.
A quick look at the patio is the main reason to step inside — most of the upstairs has been modernised — but the building is also a good reminder that Sucre was once an extraordinarily wealthy place. The marqueses of Otavi owned silver mines around Potosí and one of the largest estates in the Chuquisaca countryside.