Tomina

Tomina lies in the eastern valleys of Chuquisaca, where Andean settlements meet the warmer lowlands. Routes through the hills linked the valleys with the highland centre of Charcas and with the eastern frontier. The colonial town was called Santiago de la Frontera de Tomina and was founded in 1575 by Captain Melchor de Rodas. Its name reflected its position on a frontier of conflict with the Guaraní-speaking peoples whom colonial sources called Chiriguanos. Missionaries settled there, and the parish became one of the colonial institutions through which Spanish authority was established in the region.