At an elevation of about 3,700 meters above sea level, the city of La Paz (meaning the peace) was founded in the Andes by the Spanish conquistador Alonso de Mendoza. It has to be said though that this South American city of peace was established for a purpose – in honor of the peace between the two conquistadors Diego de Almagro and Francisco Pizarro who had a brawl over the loot they could not split. Today, the mountain city of peace serves as the capital of Bolivia instead of its nominal capital – Sucre, as it houses the parliament and the president, factories, banks and the famous Witch Market. We could not find though if there is a puddle like the one described in Gogol’s city of peace (Mirgorod was a city mentioned in the collection of novels by Gogol, the name of which means “city of peace” in Russian — Translator’s note).