Living in Peru : your everyday companion

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Orgullo del Peru

Too far for a week-end, it’s what the majority say. And they are right indeed. But if time is the subject, there’s not a better investment than to spend some days learning in this classroom of huge dimensions which is Peru and with the best professor of all, which is the experience. And Cajamarca can give us all that and much more.

History seems to be part of the same air of the city and the surroundings. It is like if in each gust of that pure and clean atmosphere of the sierra we would inhale something of the rich past of this region. Nature, on the other hand, is the ideal companion in this collection of attractions. Dense forests of pine and eucalyptus trees, countryside of neat farms that seem to be taken out of some bucolic picture, pampas and mountains, thermal waters… Does anybody want more?

The route

Located 862 kilometers north east of Lima (some 265 kilometers from Chiclayo) and at an altitude of 2,750 meters above sea level, the city of Cajamarca rises up on the banks of Mashcón river, in the occidental mountain range of the North Andes. Its weather, in general, is very pleasant: warm during the day and cool at night, with average annual temperatures in the range of 14°C and a rainy season from December to March.

To arrive in Cajamarca it is necessary to take the deviation on a par with kilometer 683 of the North Panamerican Highway (passing Pacasmayo), which goes deep 190 kilometers towards the east, following the course of the Jequetepeque river. Along the route, it is possible to see the reservoir of the Gallito Ciego dam, with its calm and blue waters contrasting with the surrounding aridity, and picturesque farming settlements like Tembladera (locality dedicated to the production of rice and fruit trees), Chilete (famous for its export mangos), San Juan and Magdalena. Then the valley narrows to ascend up to the famous Cuesta del Gavilán (3,000 meters), maximum altitude of the route where the highway winds between huge walls of granite rock eroded by the rains (the Fraylones). Descent is done from the cove, among forests of pine and eucalyptus trees, to the green Cajamarca countryside.

First men

According to historians, the first Cajamarca people roamed along this region for more than three thousand years. These were, really, semi-nomad human groups dedicated to the cultivation of bulbs, some vegetables and the breeding of camelids in the high lands.

The land became so fertile and the products so abundant that the region soon became famous as a productive foods center. Coveted by its neighbors, it was not too long until it was subdued by the ferocious warriors of the Chavin and Wari kingdoms. Some centuries after the same territories would be annexed to the Inca Empire (1450) by the armies of Pachacutec. The Inca, satisfied by the victory and pleased by the kindness of its fields, would convert this land into a center of worship and favorite place of rest of the Cusco royalty.

It was in 1532, in the place where today the main square is raised, that the Spaniards captured Atahualpa. He denied to yield himself to the Spanish crown and to accept the Catholic faith, being victim of a fraudulent judgment and executed in public on August 29, 1533. However, before his death, Atahualpa offered Pizarro, his captor, to fill the room where his treasures were, in exchange of his liberation. “A room 22 feet long and 17 wide, full of gold until a white line which is in the middle of the height of the room and of twice that amount of silver”, wrote the chronicler Francisco de Jerez (16th century). According to calculations of the historians, the Spaniards would have obtained around 4,500 kilograms of gold and 128,500 kilograms of silver. It is said that the smelting of metals ordered by Pizarro, lasted more than one month. Worried for the possible reprisals of the natives, the conquerors soon left Cajamarca heading towards Cusco… but that is another story.

The opulence

Three centuries later, almost at the end of the Colony, the city of Cajamarca would reach its maximum apogee with the exploitation of the Hualgayoc mines and the manufacturing of textiles in the factories. At same time, in its countryside it was established flourishing livestock farming, at the point that almost three quarters of the meat consumed by the city of Lima, came from its fields. The richness and opulence were of such magnitude in those times that the city was filled up with sumptuous churches and convents, large houses and building of refined baroque style.

As an example of this, there is the Cathedral or Temple of Santa Catalina, built with bases extracted from Inca palaces and constructions. It was called the “church of the Spaniards”, because Indians were not allowed to enter there. In its interior there is the image of the Virgen de los Dolores, patron of the city. Curiously, and just as the majority of the temples of the city, it doesn’t have towers. According to the popular belief, these were not concluded to avoid the payment of exaggerated tributes to the crown. Another bright example of the art of the time is the temple of San Francisco, located just in front of the Cathedral. It was known as the “church of the Indians”, because therein only local natives assisted to the cult. In its interior still are kept valuable pieces of iconography, religious image-making and religious painting, as the famous pictures of San Crispín, San Cipriano and Capilla de los Dolores (Virgen de los Dolores Chapel).

To visit

Nowadays, Cajamarca lives a time of growth stimulated by the development of the gold mining, its traditional livestock (its cheeses and caramels are famous) and sheep farming, the agriculture of corn suitable for dry land as the main product and, more recently, the tourism. In a fair recognition to its attributes, the city of Cajamarca was declared Historic and Cultural Heritage of the Americas, by OAS (Organization of American States) in November 1986.

Cajamarca is also a synonym of cheerful and hospitable people. Anybody who has participated in its colorful carnivals could assure it. The religious fervor reaches the top during the processions of Corpus Christi, by the end of May and during the Huanchaco Party, in the Inca Baths. From all the close towns, the most traditional is Porcón. A sea of wool ponchos and wide straw hats have an appointment to celebrate, with the hubbub that only the Andeans can bear during four days, the celebration of the Palm Sunday. A performance that you should not miss.

But Cajamarca is even more. Only a few minutes away from the main square, there is the Santa Apolonia hill. A wonderful natural scenic lookout point dominating the city, also known as the Inca Chair, which in the old times served as a center dedicated to dead people and to the worship of the tutelary Apus of the locality.

Only six kilometers separate the center from the famous Inca Baths, famous thermal medicinal waters used since the pre-Inca periods to alleviate the pains of the body and the soul. Tradition tells that it was there where Inca Atahualpa was at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards… Certainly they did arrive at a bad moment!

A few kilometers away towards the north there is the picturesque town of Llanacora, owner of a deserved prestige for the elaboration of the famous cane bugles or trumpets of several meters long. Very close to Llanacora, is the ex-property La Colpa, currently estate of the Cooperativa Agraria de Producción El Rescate (Agrarian Cooperative of Production El Rescate). One of the charms of the place is to presence the traditional “call” of the cows. After hearing their names shouted by country women with a soprano voice, the obedient cows start to arrive one by one for the milking.

Eight kilometers to the east of the city are the Ventanillas de Otuzco (Otuzco Windows), a necropolis made up by hundreds of carved crypts, which constitute an immense funerary mosaic over a wall of volcanic rock. But if what you want is a serious archaeology, the indicated place is at 20 kilometers from the city (14 for the adventurers who dare to go on foot). Cumbemayo is a megalithic construction of 25 thousand square meters located in the lower slopes of the Cumbe hill. It is believed it was erected around the year 1.200 A.D. by the culture Cajamarca-Marañón, even though it presents a marked Chavín influence. It covers three big architectonic groups: the Sanctuary (grotto carved in a huge rock with the form of a human head); the Caves (petroglifos (old carved stones) with anthropomorphous motifs); and the famous aqueduct, a fascinating group or irrigation channels carved in volcanic lava, a real jewelry of hydraulic engineering.

If you still have time, a visit to Kuntur Wasi, the “condor’s house”, is a must. A ceremonial center of the Chavín culture located on the top of the La Copa hill, only two kilometers south west of the San Pablo settlement. In the place there is a temple 12 meters high, constructed over three platforms put on top. The archaeologist Julio C. Tello considered that this location was an adoration place dedicated to the condor’s cult, in attention to the several statues representing it. In Kuntur Wasi there is also an interesting Site Museum, maybe one of the best of the country, attained with the economic support of the Japanese archeologists who worked in the zone and currently administrated by a Peasants’ Board of the locality.

Well, we already know it. This summer there are one hundred reasons to visit Cajamarca.

(sumilla)

“Cajamarca is a synonym of cheerful and hospitable people. Anybody who has participated in its colorful carnivals could assure it.