The Casa de Gobierno occupies the north side of Plaza 25 de Mayo and was originally the headquarters of the Audiencia de Charcas, the Spanish high court that governed Upper Peru. After independence it became the presidential palace of Bolivia until the seat of government moved to La Paz at the end of the 19th century. Today the building houses the prefecture of Chuquisaca Department.
The pale stone facade carries a tall double colonnade and the national crest; on national holidays a guard mounts ceremony out front in 19th-century uniforms. The interior is not generally open to visitors but the patio can sometimes be entered, with permission from the porter, for a look at the marble staircase. It is a building best appreciated from a bench on the plaza opposite, with a coffee in hand.