TEATRO GRAN MARISCAL DE AYACUCHO

An exceptional new museum has just opened in Sucre: the Catacomb Communications Museum.

The theater. Accompanied by a guide, you first visit the theater, which dates from the same period as the Government Palace in 1894. It was built in response to the city's need to host operettas and zarzuelas. It was designed by architect Domingo Camponovo as a replica of the "Scala" in Milan, Italy. Unfortunately, neither the interior decoration nor the upper part of the façade has been completed. A vague air of the exotic envelops the building. Here you'll see the mechanisms used for decoration changes and special effects at the time. The tour begins with an exhibition of 120 objects tracing the history of communication. Then you'll descend to the pit occupied by the orchestras for the operas, before reaching the catacombs.

The catacombs. The catacombs were dug out from underneath the theater and extend for some 180 meters, connecting to the Santa Barbara hospital and even the San Francisco church. Here, visitors can admire the mummies of four members of wealthy 17th-century Spanish families, housed in beautifully illuminated caskets, with an immersive sound tour. Two adults and two children have preserved their period clothing. The mummies were discovered in the Santo Domingo church during the 1948 earthquake.