CHUQUISA'CA, or SCCRP., the capital of Bolivia or Upper Peru, in lat. 20' s., and long. 65 30' west. It is situated on a table-land about 9,000 ft. above the sea, and has a pleasant climate. The town is well built, has a cathedral of great magnificence, a university, a college of arts and sciences, and a mining-school. C. was founded in 1538 by Pedro Auzures, an officer of Pizarro's, on the site of an old Peruvian town called "Cheque Chaka," or " bridge of gold," " the treasures of the Incas having. passed through it ou their way to Cuzco." At one time, C. bore the name of La-Plata, on account of the rich silver mines in its vicinity. Pop. 23,979. C. gives name to a territory containing 223,668 whites, besides many native Indians. It has five silver mines in operation: and in it are magnificent ruins of unknown origin. The second name is derived from the general who, in Dec., 1824, fought and won the last great battle for colonial independence at Ayacucho.
CH1TR (Fr. Coire, anct. Carta Rhatorum), a t. of Switzerland, capital of the Grisons, in the valley of the Upper Rhine, in a fertile plain about 2000 ft. above the sea, and sur rounded by high mountains, 60 m. s.e. of Zurich, on the Flessur, about a mile from its junction with the Rhine. It is of importance as standing on the great road to Italy by the Spiugen and Bernardin passes, and thus possessing a considerable transit trade. C.
stands on uneven ground, has narrow streets, and is divided into a high and low town. The bishop's palace, and the quarter around it, inhabited by the Roman Catholics, occupy the summit of an eminence, and are separated from the rest by walls and battle ments, closed by double gates. In the same quarter stand the old cathedral. a round, arched, or Byzantine edifice, founded in the 8th c.; the church of St. Lucius or the Dom, a curious example of early pointed Gothic, including fragments of earlier build ings. It contains singular old carving, paintings, and statues, and also, it is said, the bones of St. Lucius, who was a British king. Behind the episcopal palace is a kind of ravine lined with vineyards. In the lower townthere are also some very ancient build ings. Romansch is still spoken in the vicinity; a newspaper in this dialect is published in town; and a considerable collection of Romansch literature is to be found in the library of the cantonal schools. There are several new roads leading in different direc tions through the Grisons; and a railway connects the town with Zurich and other places. There are manufactures of zinc wares and cutting tools. Pop. '70, 7,552, of whom about 2000 are Catholics.